10 April 2003

Freetown, Sierra Leone: The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, and his deputy for Governance and Stabilization in his capacity as the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Alan Doss, yesterday signed a joint pilot initiative launched by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Freetown.

The aim of the pilot initiative, signed on behalf of UNAMSIL and the UNDP, is to support and promote reconciliation and reintegration in Sierra Leone's communities that were devastated by the civil conflict, through activities that combine the transition to peace-building with reintegration. The activities will target voluntary youth groups and demobilized ex-combatants to rebuild their communities through volunteer action and by providing an enabling environment for reintegration and socio-economic recovery.

As the financing and executing agency, the Bonn-based UN Volunteers is providing the funding amounting to $725,000 over a two-year period through its Special Voluntary Fund. UNAMSIL and UNDP will provide the logistical and administrative support and implement the programme.

According to UNV Programme Manager Jan Snoeks, this project is unique in many ways.

“It is the first time that a peace-keeping mission engages in an initiative that takes the peacekeeping a step further vis-à-vis classical peace-keeping operations, in the sense that it goes beyond mere socio-economic support such as vocational skills training or micro-credit schemes; rather, the project will focus on psycho-social support, for instance through the organization of sports or cultural events,” he said. “In addition, it opens up the reintegration process to the communities at large instead of targeting ex-combatants in the strict sense.”

Mr. Snoeks noted that it was also an innovative idea for a peace-keeping mission to make use of national UN Volunteers. In addition, through the collaboration with UNDP, the project helps “pave the way not just for the consolidation of peace in the country, but also for the re-establishment of regular development programmes”.

There are currently 170 UN Volunteers from 50 nationalities serving with UNAMSIL in Sierra Leone, working, for example, as air traffic controllers, civil engineers, database administrators, human rights officers, medical doctors, nurses, radio technicians and vehicle mechanics.