By Ishmael Bayoh
This Week with President Bio’s Development Agenda highlights the incredible journey of the country to be elected a member of the United Nations Security Council in the Non-Permanent category, and to now occupying the presidency for the month of August.
On Tuesday June 6, 2023, Sierra Leone and Algeria were elected for a term of two years each to represent Africa on the UN’s most powerful organ. President Bio’s determination for the country to occupy that stage led him to get support from ECOWAS and AU heads of state nominating Sierra Leone as the sole candidate that polled 188 votes out of 193 countries. On Tuesday January 1, 2024, the country proudly took that global seat.
This month of August is a month of pride and honour for Sierra Leone as the President of the United Nations Security Council. Sierra Leone’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Dr. Imran Kanu held a presser Thursday as a mark of the country’s Presidency where he outlined the preliminary work plan for August.
The country’s commitment to global peace, stability, multilateralism, human capital development, and gender empowerment, continues to earn the respect at the international stage. Over 20 years ago, on the Security Council agenda for peace was Sierra Leone, and now, the country would be championing sessions to discuss the peace and stability of other nations.
During the Country’s Presidency, will convene a debate titled “Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the UN Security Council” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio is expected to chair the meeting with anticipated briefers to be the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis, and a representative of academia.
The other key event would be an open debate on “A New Agenda for Peace–Addressing global, regional and national aspects of conflict prevention” under the “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace” agenda item. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,Timothy Musa Kabba, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support; Bankole Adeoye, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Hawa Sally Samai, Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone and a civil society representative.
Sierra Leone will also convene a briefing on the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda, focusing on sustaining WPS commitments in the context of accelerated drawdown of peace operations. The expected briefers include Sima Sami Bahous, the Executive Director of UN Women, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO), and a delegate from civil society.
With this briefing, let me now bring to you some of the other developmental strides from July 26th to August 2nd, 2024. Be cautious during the weekend with the rain.
▪On July 29-30, in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) hosted the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) Airshow. It created the opportunity for Sierra Leone to highlight its strategic role within the Banjul Accord Group (BAG) of States, positioning it as a key player in the African aviation sector. The airshow served as a follow-up to the recent event held in Banjul, The Gambia, and focused on high-level engagements with state agencies for Transport, Tourism, Trade, and Finances, alongside the National Implementation Committee (NIC) and SAATM focal points. During the ceremony, Sierra Leone signed the Agreement with SAATM.
▪During the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons event on Tuesday 30 in Freetown, the 2024-2028 National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons, especially vulnerable groups, women and children was launched. Thousands of Sierra Leoneans have become victims in the hands of traffickers.
▪On Monday 29th, the Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy & Food Security, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella met with the delegation from Power Africa, a US government-led initiative with the goal of providing 30,000MW and 60 million new electricity connections to sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. The intent of their meeting was to build upon previous discussions with their CEO to strengthen collaboration in addressing the pressing energy crisis and mobilizing investments for sustainable energy solutions in Sierra Leone.
▪The beautiful coast of West Africa, Sierra Leone is again ranked by the Global Peace Index 2024 in 8 Position for the category of the Most Peaceful African Countries, and 2nd in West Africa and 1st in the Mano River basin.
▪Great event in female football happening in Bo, Southern Arena as the Sierra Leone Women’s League champions, Mogbwemo Queens played to a 0-0 draw against AS Mandè of Mali. CAF in collaboration with WAFU “A”and SLFA on Thursday August 1 inaugurated the CAF Women’s Club Championship Qualifiers Tournament. The Championship is to identify the champion club from the WAFU “A” region, which will represent the region at the CAF Club Championship in South Africa. The tournament will continue on Saturday, August 3rd, with Determined Girls of Liberia facing off against Red Scorpion FC, and AS Mandè battling Aigles De La Medina.
