Peacebuilding efforts dominate talks between Ban and Guinea-Bissau’s premier

The implementation of a peacebuilding plan and social and political reforms in Guinea-Bissau were at the centre of today’s discussions between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Prime Minister of the West African country, Carlos Gomes Júnior.

Mr. Ban acknowledged the efforts made by the Guinea-Bissau Government to implement the Priority Plan for Peacebuilding and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The discussions also touched on reform efforts in defence, security and justice sectors, the fight against drug trafficking, and the need for inclusive national dialogue.

In June, the Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), Joseph Mutaboba, told the Security Council that while the country had made progress on the political and security fronts, there was need for greater effort to consolidate the gains and to address issues such as impunity, drug trafficking and organized crime.

The political and security situation were improving, but economic reforms were yet to be sustained by other key reforms, notably in the defence and justice sectors, he said.

UNIOGBIS was set up last year as a successor to the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS), which had been in the country since 1999 as part of international efforts to help it recover from civil war in which thousands were killed, wounded or displaced.

In the years that followed, the country was plagued by coups, coup attempts and, in 2009, the assassination of then president João Bernardo Vieira.