IRIN Interview with John O'Shea, executive director of GOAL.

The Dublin-based non-governmental organisation, GOAL, is one of the international humanitarian organisations engaged in Sierra Leone. Its Executive Director, John O'Shea, recently visited the West African country. In an interview with IRIN from Dublin, O'Shea said Sierra Leone remains fragile and therefore the international community should maintain its engagement "like it did in East Timor". Below is the interview: Q: You just returned from Sierra Leone. What are your general impressions of the country after the recent presidential and parliamentary elections? A: First of all, one of relief that the civil war is over. The people who have suffered so much for the last 10 or 11 years now have an opportunity to live a normal life. But as we have seen in many African countries, the fact that civil war ends is no guarantee that normalcy returns to a country. However the fact that the international community is so heavily involved in Sierra Leone, gives a degree of hope for the future. Q: The international community is starting to re-think the nature of its continued presence after the successful elections, saying to Sierra Leoneans, here is your new baby (your new government). Do you have any fears that a pullout by the international community soon could be a step backwards ? A: There is no doubt that it would jeopardize the situation. It is a very fragile situation that the government of Sierra Leone finds itself in. It does not appear to have any wealth despite the country having plenty of diamonds. Because of the civil war, there is a serious question of who controls the country's minerals - is it people from outside the country ? Is it business men within the country ? Is it a government from outside the country ? Is it chiefdoms ? It seems it is not the government and this means the chances of the profits from the minerals accruing to the people are very thin. That is not to say that if the government were in total control, the profits would go to the people either because corruption is a huge problem that has to be tackled as well. There are many complex issues that need to be tackled and because of that, the international community has got to stay engaged until it is confident of the government. It has to do what it has done in East Timor. Q: Would you put a time frame to this engagement. How long do you think the international community should stay engaged the same way it has been, in the post-election Sierra Leone ? A: There is no time frame because we have to find out how sincere the new government is about helping its own people. We have to wait and see whether it can wrest control of minerals from whoever has it at the moment and to see whether the government has the capacity to provide infrastructure to bring back a market economy to the country. At the end of the day the international community should be concerned about the lives of the people not whoever is in power. The international community has to be supportive in the early period , 3-6 months, then we get an idea of how serious the government is. If the government chooses to be corrupt the international community has to find another way to get help to people who desperately need it. Q: One of the biggest problems Sierra Leone faces is reconciliation among its own people, including the various groups that fought each other in the wars. Do you believe that Sierra Leoneans are getting reconciled and forgetting the past ? A: It is a question of just how mature the people are, and whether or not they are prepared to put the interests of the country first. It is all very well for outsiders like me to make comments- I have not lost a brother or wife in a conflict. I have not had my left arm chopped off. So I could not have an idea how people who have suffered so much in one of the most brutal civil wars the world has ever known, are going to deal with people who a short time ago were trying to kill them. Q: During your visit, did you see real signs of genuine reconciliation ? A: I wasn't there long enough. The feeling I got was of hope and relief. Sierra Leoneans are a beautiful, happy type of people and I found it amazing that they were looking forward so much, rather than wondering about the atrocities of the past. The impression - I stress it was only an impression I got, was that there is hope. They voted heavily in favour of the new government, but also in favour of the international community remaining in Sierra Leone. Q: Conflict continues in Liberia at the moment. How serious do you think the impact of continuing conflict in neighbouring states would be to Sierra Leone? A: This is another task for the international community which has invested so heavily in Sierra Leone. The conflict in Liberia has already began to be a serious factor in Sierra Leone. The numbers of refugees are impacting on the stability of Sierra Leone, plus the illicit smuggling of diamonds. In the ideal world the international community would crack down on Liberia for two reasons - one because what they are doing is wrong, and to give Sierra Leone a real chance. Having civil war on its door steps is hardly what Sierra Leone needs at the moment. Q: The international community is already acting tough against Liberia. The UN recently reviewed some sanctions that are in place against the government in Monrovia. A: Much more needs to be done because the boys with the guns are doing as they please. Calls for peace are not enough. Q: There are also several peace initiatives on Liberia that have started. The West African states under ECOWAS have recently launched a series of efforts to try and resolve the Liberia crisis. There is also the Morocco initiative. A: I know of no country where only calls ( for peace) have proved successful. Look at the Congo where everybody is calling on Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe etc, to get out. What needs to happen is for a major army to go down to the Congo and ensure the fighters are disarmed and sent back to their countries. But there is a risk of casualties. In Liberia, it is human lives being wasted. There is need to ensure the sovereignty of human beings in that country. Q: What does GOAL do in Sierra Leone? A; We work in Freetown and the district of Kenema, where we run health services for hundreds of thousands of people. We have also rebuilt clinics, orphanages and houses. In Freetown, our main activity centers on street children and young girls who are prostitutes. We try to keep young girls away from AIDS and give them an opportunity to live a normal life. We have been there four years now and shall stay engaged for as long as the people of Sierra Leone need us. Q: What work do you do with the displaced and other vulnerable groups ? A: We help a lot of displaced people in Kenema. We are hoping to get some money for education. The children are anxious to get back to school and GOAL will work to help people get out of the nightmarish situation they witnessed during the wars. We concentrate on the forgotten people. Q: Last week, you were quoted in a statement from GOAL, as saying the pain and suffering of Sierra Leone continues. What did you exactly mean ? A: Unless the international community continues to provide support, the new government on its own - given the litany of problems which it is facing, cannot make much of an immediate impact. The damage done by the civil war was so bad, physically and psychologically, that the people of Sierra Leone need an enormous amount of support. That can only come from a combined effort of the international community and the government. I am worried that the international community is thinking of extricating itself from Sierra Leone. They need to remain involved until such a time that Sierra Leone is looking and moving forward.