NGO appeals for fund for war victims

The Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) has appealed to Sierra Leone's government to create a special fund for victims of the country's 10-year war, which ended at the beginning of this year. The Sierra Leonean NGO said in a statement on Tuesday that this would improve the lives of the proposed beneficiaries and enable them to be productive and self-reliant.

It also said the establishment of such a fund had been provided for in a peace accord which the government and rebels signed in Lome, Togo, in July 1999.

"In the Lome Peace Accord [...] provision was made for a number of Commissions and other peace-building mechanisms to be put in place in order to prevent the resurgence of violence in the country," CGG said. "These included, inter alia, a Joint Monitoring Commission, a Commission for the Consolidation of Peace, a Disarmament and Reintegration programme and a "Special Fund" for the rehabilitation of war victims."

It said the provision for the fund was in Part Five, Article XXIX of the agreement, which states: "The Government with the support of the International Community shall design and implement a programme for the rehabilitation of war victims. For this purpose a special fund shall be set up".

CGG said the plight of some people who suffered as a result of the war, such as rape victims, was disheartening as they were stigmatized, had unseen scars and underwent daily psychological torture. A great number of them, it added, could not afford proper medical care and others could not return to school due to unwanted pregnancies.

It also referred to the plight of amputees which, it said, had to do not only with their physical handicapped, but also their inability to support their families and dependents.

"The War Victims Fund therefore is and should be an integral part of any poverty alleviation scheme embarked on," the group said.