UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator visiting Sierra Leone

"Cautious optimism" was the expression the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (DERC) chose to capture her overall impression of the current situation in Sierra Leone during a visit to the country from 20 to 23 April. Ms McAskie, who is also Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is undertaking a mission to countries in the Mano River Union including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in order to "take stock of the political, military and humanitarian situation in the sub-region, in particular, as it affects refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)".
While in Sierra Leone, Ms McAskie met with the Foreign Minister, the Commissioners of the National Commission for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (NCRRR) and the National Commission for Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR), the leadership of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), members of the Diplomatic Corps, UN Agencies, and Non-Governmental Organizations. She also made it a priority to interact with a cross-section of affected populations, including IDPs in the Port Loko camp, recently resettled families in Maforki Chiefdom in Port Loko district, ex-combatants undergoing demobilization at the Port Loko DDR camp, and refugee returnees relocated to village settlements in Barri Chiefdom in the Southern province. The DERC told the refugee returnees that they were now "on the frontline of peace."

Quoting Winston Churchill during a press conference held at the UN OCHA Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) in Freetown, Ms McAskie said what she witnessed this time in Sierra Leone signaled "the end of the beginning". She said although she had no reason yet to believe the RUF declaration of "no more interest in war," she was convinced that their current circumstances dictated that peace was the only viable option. She told the RUF interim leader, Mr. Issa Sessay, during her visit to the town of Makeni, to demonstrate the RUF's good faith by releasing the child soldiers and the young girls they had abducted.

Further, Ms McAskie observed that UNAMSIL's deployment to RUF-held Lunsar, Makeni and Magburaka in the northern province, demonstrated that the peacekeeping force now had a stronger and more focused Concept of Operations, which would enable it to be more effective and decisive in its onward deployment into RUF-held territory. The gradual return of IDPs to areas recently declared safe by the GOSL was another significant sign of hope underlined by Ms McAskie.

On the situation of Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, Ms McAskie was more cautious, stressing that the time was still not right for a massive organized repatriation exercise. Noting that large parts of the country where most of the refugees come from remained unsafe, while safe areas were already full to capacity, the UN Official said the capacity of humanitarian agencies and the government to cope with an increasing number of returnees was highly limited. She made clear that the United Nations would however continue to support a dual-track strategy of assisting those refugees who have chosen to return home in the current situation, while helping to relocate others in Guinea's Parrot's Beak further inland and away from the frontline.

Ms. McAskie took the opportunity to welcome Mr. Alan Doss as the new UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sierra Leone and to thank the outgoing Coordinator, Mr. Kingsley O. Amaning who will be taking up a new post in Liberia.

Expressing satisfaction at the efforts being made by the humanitarian community to meet current needs, the DERC promised to take the message to key Donors to provide additional resources for Sierra Leone, particularly in support of the US$ 78 million UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for 2001, which remains grossly under-funded.

Ms McAskie was accompanied by Ms. Marika Fahlen, Swedish Ambassador for Humanitarian Affairs and a Representative of the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
13 Bath Street, Brookfields, PO Box 1011, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Tel: +232-22-220770 / 220778 Fax: +232-22-228720