Mission urges speedy implementation of peace pact

Visiting UN and donor-country officials said they were encouraged by the commitment of the signatories of the Lome Accord to the peace process in Sierra Leone and, in particular, the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme, a UN source told IRIN on Friday. However, they urged all parties to speed up the implementation of the peace process. Speaking at a news conference in Freetown on Thursday, the mission’s leader, Deputy UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Carolyn McAskie, said peace could not be imposed from the outside. She said Sierra Leoneans had to take responsibility for their own destiny, a source from the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) told IRIN. McAskie added that she was optimistic that programmes outlined in the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Sierra Leone would be well funded for the year 2000 if the peace process held, given the level of donor interest expressed to date, according to HACU. The Appeal is seeking just under US $71 million to implement 34 projects next year. The US representative on the mission reportedly said that the level of support provided by the United States would be influenced by the extent to which the DDR programme was successfully implemented. Reuters quoted McAskie as saying: “Our understanding as donors is that the security situation is still uncertain”. However, the HACU source said that the donor team was inspired by the impact of humanitarian work being carried out in areas which were accessible. The team, which includes representatives of Britain, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States, later travelled to Guinea. Its mission ends on Saturday night.