Sierra Leone makes gradual progress towards consolidating peace - Annan

Sierra Leone continues to make gradual progress towards consolidating peace after nearly a decade of vicious civil wars and military coups but much remains to be done to achieve long-term stability, particularly with regard to security, according to the latest United Nations report on its peacekeeping mission in the West African country.

The progress has allowed the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to continue reducing its forces, which at its start in 1999 had an authorized maximum strength of 17,500 military personnel but now stands at some 9,000, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in the report, calling for a nine-month extension of the Mission, until 30 June 2005.

As planned, by the end of December its military component will be cut to fewer than 5,000 troops, with further reductions bringing it to 3,250 by the end of February and its total drawdown slated for completion by the end of 2005. The military reduction will be accompanied by similar cutbacks in UNAMSIL's civilian staff.

"With the support of UNAMSIL and development partners, the Government of Sierra Leone has made significant progress towards accomplishing a number of benchmarks for the withdrawal of UNAMSIL," Mr. Annan says.

He notes that revenue from diamond exports has significantly increased thanks to an improvement in government monitoring and control of mining activities, the disarmament and reintegration of former combatants has been successfully completed, and state authority is being consolidated, "albeit not without difficultly."

Among continuing problems, he highlights the serious logistic, communications, accommodation and transport shortfalls still confronting the Sierra Leone army (RSLAF).

"In light of these concerns, the attainment by RSLAF of the requisite capacity to assume effective responsibility for ensuring the security of the country against external threats will remain a key benchmark in reviewing the tasks of the residual UNAMSIL presence," Mr. Annan reports.

Youth unemployment, inadequate private sector growth, spiralling prices of essential commodities and very slow progress in improving living standards remain "areas of serious concern," he adds. Sustaining a high growth in gross domestic product (GDP) is also likely to be more challenging as assistance is scaled back by donor countries.

But he notes that the Government has made significant strides in enhancing good governance through decentralization. The human rights situation has also gradually improved, although the entire justice system needs urgent reform to tackle the shortage of judges and persistent delays in criminal investigations.