ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SIERRA LEONE, 2 - 3 JULY

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Sierra Leone from the Gambia on Sunday, 2 July.

On Monday morning, he met with the senior officials of the United Nations Office in the country and held a town hall meeting with local staff.  He also visited Camp Solar, which houses the more than 200 Mongolian peacekeeping troops who protect the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  He thanked them for their dedicated, exemplary service so far from their home, adding that they could be the vanguard of increased Mongolian participation in United Nations peacekeeping.

The Secretary-General also met with the country’s President, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, and assured him that, while the United Nations peacekeeping mission has closed down, the United Nations remains dedicated to working in Sierra Leone.  Among other things, he said that the United Nations stands ready to assist Sierra Leone on elections.

The Secretary-General then went to see the Special Court, where he was briefed by Registrar Lovemore G. Munlo, SC; the President of the Court, Justice George Gelaga-King; the Acting Prosecutor, Christopher Staker; and other senior officials on the Court’s work and its completion strategy.  He also visited the detention centre that houses suspects.

He had lunch with Victor da Silva Angelo, Executive Representative for the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone and the mission’s senior staff.

Before departing, Mr. Annan held a press conference.

In a separate programme on Monday, Nane Annan visited a centre for vulnerable girls, most of them street children or child sex workers, many having suffered violence and sexual abuse at home or on the streets.  The centre, supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Irish non-governmental organization GOAL, provides shelter, food, health care, counselling, family tracing and mediation, education and skills training, including HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.  Mrs. Annan acknowledged the girls as role models for others to come forward and learn new skills to develop themselves.  She encouraged them to continue their education, “because that is the most important thing you can have, to become stronger and more confident and to help you achieve your dreams”, she said.

The Secretary-General’s delegation departed later on Monday for Liberia.