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The Canadian government announced on Friday a number of measures to help Sierra Leone and the UN in their efforts to restore peace, according to a news release issued by the mission of Canada to the United Nations.
These include emergency humanitarian aid, trained planners and experts to support the capacity of the UN for rapid response and protective equipment for UN peacekeepers.
Some US $5 million in emergency humanitarian aid including food, shelter for families that have fled their homes and health supplies, will go to the most vulnerable areas and people in need. “As soon as it is safe for aid workers to return to Sierra Leone, we will move quickly to start directing this new aid to help the tens of thousands of individuals and families that are caught in the middle of the conflict,” said Maria Minna, Canada’s minister for international cooperation.
To help bolster the planning capacity of the UN for rapid response, Canada will provide two Canadian Forces officers for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. In addition the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will fund two officers from developing countries, it said.
About 1700 fragmentation vests and 1700 helmets, worth some US $864,000, will also be donated for use by UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) peacekeepers. This follows a request by the UN to provide these items to troops who had been deployed to Sierra Leone without protective equipment.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions