S/PV.5948 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2008/512, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. Members also have before them document S/2008/281, which contains the sixth report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1829 (2008). I now give the floor to the representative of Sierra Leone.

The delegation of the Republic of Sierra Leone wishes to express its profound appreciation to the Security Council for the resolution that has just been adopted. We warmly welcome the resolution, mainly because it marks another significant phase in the United Nations experiment in post-conflict peacebuilding, with Sierra Leone as the laboratory. In particular, the transformation of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) into an integrated peacebuilding outfit, the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL), on the basis of the achievement of carefully measured benchmarks is a reassuring indication of the country's progress in consolidating peace and stability. Since the armed conflict ended in 2002, Sierra Leone has conducted two democratic presidential, parliamentary and local council elections, and has made considerable efforts to revive the economy, to recover from the ravages of the war and to relaunch the country on the path of development. We have not done those things alone. We thank the United Nations and our other international community partners, as well as our bilateral supporters, for their investment in the efforts to achieve lasting peace, to pursue the ideals of democracy and human rights and to lift Sierra Leone from the bottom of the human development index. We have made gains, but we are far from having crossed the bridge. As an example, we need sustained support to achieve the goals set in the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation Framework, namely, those related to developing the energy, justice and security sectors, youth employment and integration, governance and capacity-building in the public service. It is no overstatement to suggest that a gap will appear in the success story of the United Nations in Sierra Leone if the goals in those priority areas, set by Sierra Leone and the Peacebuilding Commission, are not fully accomplished. I assure members that the Government and the people of Sierra Leone remain firmly committed to fulfilling their own part of the agreement. Finally, for Sierra Leone and many countries in a similar situation and with similar experiences, the current food and oil crises pose potential risks to peace and security that the Council can ill afford to ignore. Already, the crises have stretched our fragile economy nearly to the limits of its elasticity. We need more help.

There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.