YouSaid · the spoken record

Julius Maada Bio

lines on the record: 99
first: 2018-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We no longer wish to be seen and spoken about as a nation recovering from problems ranging from civil strife to Ebola and from bad governance and economic gridlock to food and climate insecurity. We are a nation striving ever harder to fulfil our enormous potential. Our peaceful democracy has matured. Predictable, regular and peaceful elections are the norm. Civil- society actors are partners at all levels of governance and of the delivery of public services. We have established an independent commission for peace and national cohesion to foster social cohesion and further consolidate peace in our country. We continue to remove threats to democratic freedoms and human rights. We have repealed a half-century-old seditious- libel law. No politician or rights activist is in prison for expressing his or her beliefs.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We thank in particular the People’s Republic of China, France, the United States, the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility and other multilateral institutions. We are ramping up vaccination rates and gaining greater vaccination coverage for our population. The worst of the delta variant may be behind us, but we will remain ever vigilant. Throughout the COVID-19 period, we have done more to improve human capital development, support the most vulnerable of our citizens and communities, build strong institutions, create more inclusive democratic spaces, build infrastructure and ensure public service delivery. In our view, resilience is not to be hoped for but worked for, diligently and purposefully. We no longer wish to be perceived as a nation that is saddled with the tragedies and failures of the past.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In that regard, we have created a conducive business ecosystem, amicably resolved business disputes, ratified international trade and labour instruments and continued to make progress in the fight against corruption because it is good for business and governance. Our structured health preparedness plan, which has been implemented with close attention to the science and data, has helped save lives and protect livelihoods. Mindful of the need to save lives and preserve human dignity, Sierra Leone has been proactive in interrupting transmission chains, curtailing infection, minimizing deaths and mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on our population. We commend the global solidarity around the provision of COVID-19 vaccines to our nation.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Nations risk not meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and building resilience against future shocks. However, amid premature pessimism that the familiar world order has unravelled, Sierra Leone sees possibilities for renewed optimism and new growth. As a nation, we are grateful to the United Nations and the friendly countries and multilateral institutions that have worked with us to navigate the stormy period since March 2020. In Sierra Leone, through our Quick Action Economic Response Programme, we are building fiscal resilience by investing in agriculture, developing human capital and expanding productivity through economic diversification. But we believe our post-COVID recovery will be anchored in increased private-sector investments, international trade and development financing in growth sectors.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We believe that our collective commitment through multilateral partnerships will see our world through the throes of this pandemic, build resilience and recover sustainably. The theme of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly — “Building resilience through hope - to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations” — is therefore most appropriate and timely. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and economies, constrained development owing to the repurposing of development finance and the withholding of private capital, escalated the threats of climate change and food insecurity, broadened inequities and injustice, and increased fragilities.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Sierra Leone associates itself with his call, among other equally important matters, for prioritizing the COVID-19 response, vaccine access and equity, tackling poverty and inequality, the impact of climate change, and promoting gender equality and human rights protection and promotion. Our collective aspiration for a safe, equitable and prosperous future has been challenged over the last few years. As the world wrestles with the tragedy, trauma and adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sierra Leone appreciates all COVID-19-specific resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. Sierra Leone is also fully supportive of all policy initiatives that advance multilateral cooperation on fighting the pandemic and implementing measures to mitigate its long-term effects on lives and livelihoods.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“I congratulate the President of the General Assembly on assuming the responsibility of steering the work of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. I assure him of Sierra Leone’s fullest support during his tenure. I also commend his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Volkan Bozkir of the Republic of Turkey for the effective and efficient conduct of the Assembly at its seventy-fifth. We deeply appreciate his efforts in galvanizing a multilateral approach to containing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and handling its multifaceted impacts through several high- level meetings. I also congratulate the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, on his reappointment. I assure him of Sierra Leone’s continued support as he leads and coordinates the United Nations response to persistent global challenges.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We are committed to promoting peace and security, addressing the underlying causes of fragility and the drivers of conflict, tackling the scourge of climate change and, in turn, building resilience and achieving the 2030 Agenda. Together, we can achieve that in our lifetime.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Our medium-term national development plan provides for mitigation and adaptation strategies that include reviewing, formulating and strengthening national policy actions on environmental management and governance. We are committed to green and sustainable energy generation. With the right partnerships, the right attitude and an unflinching commitment to climate financing and continuing multilateral efforts, we can save our planet from the destructive impacts of climate change. Allow me to conclude by encouraging us all to not lose sight of the shared responsibility we all have to ensure a peaceful and secure world for the next generation. Sierra Leone is a small nation, but it is determined to play its own part in the international system.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are also implementing business-friendly reforms that create an ecosystem that is conducive to private capital investment and entrepreneurship in our country. Allow me to express my country’s sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General for convening the Climate Action Summit in September. Extreme weather events increase the risk of hunger, disease, forced migration, conflict and poverty. The science is indisputable, the effects on lives and livelihoods are real and the threats to our efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals are clear and present. As a country, we are committed to a multilateral approach to fully implementing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As co-Chair of the Task Force on Access to Justice, Sierra Leone strongly identifies with, and reiterates, the Secretary-General’s call for accelerated commitments to addressing gaps in the justice delivery system. We have signalled that commitment as a country by establishing a special directorate within the Ministry of Justice to monitor, evaluate and report on progress on access to justice for our most vulnerable groups. We are also using technology and innovation to digitize our court processes and thereby fast-track justice delivery for all. We have undertaken governance reforms that foster the rule of law and public accountability. And we continue to pursue a determined fight against corruption while minimizing the waste and abuse of State resources.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We aim to change attitudes towards mental health and provide affordable and integrated quality care that matches the burden of mental health conditions. We therefore welcome partnerships with a view to achieving that goal. Our focus as a Government remains the delivery of accountable and transparent State governance through critical debates and engagement with all citizens on their rights, governance and development. We continue to work with civil society and the press as we expand democratic space. My Government has forwarded to Parliament a bill to completely repeal a 54-year-old law that criminalizes libel, which has been used by Governments in the past to imprison journalists and restrict press freedoms.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are focused on, and request cooperation in, reducing maternal and child mortality; preventing epidemics of tropical and communicable diseases through increased disease detection, surveillance and control; providing primary health care in accordance with the Declaration of Astana; providing first-rate, in-country medical diagnostic facilities; and strengthening capacity and resilience in the delivery of health-care services. Through all those efforts, we are leveraging innovation and technology to support the delivery of health care. We also believe that we cannot achieve universal health coverage without delivering mental health care for all. We are rewriting mental health legislation and are committed to community-based mental health care and treatment.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We have passed progressive laws on sexual offences and a presidential task force directly advises the President on sexual and gender-based violence. We are also working to eliminate barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Quality, affordable and universal health care coverage is foundational to productivity and overall well-being. That is critical for our human capital development agenda. As a nation, we cannot afford the cost of not investing in health care and universal health care coverage. We have maintained a rights-based approach to health care coverage that is aligned with SDG 3.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Sierra Leone is addressing the youth question through financial and social inclusion programmes, skills training and farming initiatives. We are pleased to be one of the 10 countries selected by the United Nations as pilots in the recently launched United Nations Youth Strategy. We aim to collaborate across the region and with international partners and to share lessons and best practices. Our development agenda is inclusive and affirms the critical role of women. We have ratified Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security. We are addressing the inclusion of women in governance and entrepreneurship. Our actions on child marriage, rape and sexual and gender-based violence have been emphatic and uncompromising.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“That initiative to establish legal identity using a singular, securitized and serially numbered instrument is guided by governance, development planning, financial inclusion and human rights imperatives, among others. The same instrument can also be used to strengthen health care planning, health information systems, disease surveillance and the monitoring of public health interventions and outcomes. The threats of inequality, lack of opportunity and exclusion of our young people still persist. Anxiety over the growing population of young people in Africa is complicated by increased poverty indicators, the exclusion of young people, the perils of migration across the Mediterranean, transnational organized crime, terrorism, violent extremism and greater national and regional security threats.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are open to partnerships, collaboration and ideas about how to continue improving the quality of education, because we believe that our success in a global digital economy in the fourth industrial revolution is predicated on our investment in the future of our children. Through partnerships and innovation, we have made great progress in establishing legal identity and birth registration by strengthening our national civil registration and vital statistics systems. We have also rolled out Africa’s first blockchain national digital identity platform, which will help citizens obtain access to approved institutions by digitally verifying their identities.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Through the directorate of science, technology and innovation, we have developed a human capital development incubator with extensive real-time data on education in Sierra Leone and other components of our human capital development flagship programme. Policy interventions and investments in education, health care and food security are increasingly informed and driven by that real-time data. Sierra Leone continues to use the power of data to plan, make policy decisions, allocate resources, guide governance and create new possibilities for private entrepreneurship and drive human capital development.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Girls admitted to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines in college are guaranteed scholarships. Technical and vocational education centres are now accessible to more Sierra Leonean girls and young people. We are also investing in more school infrastructure, transportation, sanitation and health, and nutrition and retention programmes. We are restructuring and redesigning our education system to deliver quality education that meets the needs of inclusive and sustainable national and private-sector development. Our aim is to achieve fundamental, age-appropriate learning outcomes in literacy, computational skills and critical thinking. We invite the world to work with us.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“It ensures that people are at the centre of, and own, our national development trajectory. Eradicating poverty can be achieved only when we develop and improve our own greatest national resource — the people. Skilled, healthy and productive human beings represent the pathway to global success and prosperity. As a nation, we see human capital as a critical enabler for achieving the SDGs. My Government has therefore allocated 21 per cent of the national budget to education. Consequently, pre-primary to secondary school education is free, irrespective of gender, ability or ethnicity, and we now have 2 million children enrolled in school. We have expanded opportunities in education for girls by creating safe spaces in schools, while campaigning vigorously against early marriage and sexual and gender-based violence.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“To that end, Sierra Leone has partnered with United Nations agencies and development partners to better understand the dynamics and severity of poverty and map out possible approaches to eradicating poverty, in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1. That culminated with the production of a national multidimensional poverty index, a report on multidimensional child poverty and Sierra Leone’s population policy, all with a view to ensuring effective measuring and monitoring capabilities. The aspirations of Sierra Leoneans are reflected in a detailed and costed five-year medium-term national development plan, entitled Education for Development. The plan, which was aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, is based on an inclusive national consultative process.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“There is a strong case to be made for the voices of billions of people living in conflict-affected countries to be heard in the highest global decision-making forum, in particular with regard to the Group of Seven Plus countries. Sierra Leone has always pursued country-led peace and resilience through national dialogue and reconciliation. We recently concluded a broad-based national consultative conference, Bintumani-III, during which a nationally representative body resolved to establish a permanent and independent national commission for peace and cohesion. We did so mindful that peaceful coexistence and inclusive governance are prerequisites for our development. Development and poverty eradication must be well planned, inclusive and sustainable and must transition our nation out of fragility.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As the Coordinator of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government, which seeks the reform of the Security Council, we are convinced that such reform should address the long-standing injustice and imbalance of the current configuration of the Security Council. We believe that the prevailing geopolitical realities make a compelling case for a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in order to bring about equitable geographic representation. Africa’s patience is being tested. We therefore urge the Assembly to collectively support our urgent call for Africa’s representation on the Security Council, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. We pursue peace as a public common good, and we have played an important role in securing peace as a stand-alone goal of the 2030 Agenda.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Africa remains the only region without representation in the permanent category of the Security Council, and is also underrepresented in the non-permanent category. In that context, Africa’s demand for two permanent seats with all the rights and prerogatives of current members, including the right of the veto, as well as two additional non-permanent seats, is a matter of common justice. Africa should have the right to an equal say in decision-making on issues pertaining to international peace and security. The long-standing injustice and imbalance perpetrated by the current configuration of the Security Council should be of grave concern to us all and ought to be addressed now.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As a troop- and police-contributing country, Sierra Leone’s active participation in peacekeeping operations demonstrates our firm commitment to the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. Let me reiterate our firm commitment to continuing to contribute our fair share in maintaining world peace. The need for Security Council reform is urgent and imperative. Our historic pledge to the early reform of the Security Council as an essential element of our overall effort to reform the United Nations must be upheld and implemented without further delay. The legitimacy and effectiveness of the Security Council’s decisions and the relevance of the United Nations as a whole will continue to be questioned if urgent action is not taken to make the Council more broadly representative.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The theme of the current session, “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”, builds on the commitments we have made over the years. Those issues are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We therefore commend the timely choice of a theme that resonates with the aspirations of the people whom we all represent. Sierra Leone supports the principle of collective engagement in both the prevention and settlement of conflicts and disputes, as well as the Secretary-General’s reform agenda in sustaining peace in all its facets, including efforts to reform peacekeeping.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I wish to congratulate Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on his assumption of the responsibility to steer the work of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. I assure him of Sierra Leone’s full support during his tenure. I also applaud Her Excellency Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces of Ecuador for the effective manner in which she conducted the previous session. I also commend the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, for his overall dedication and commitment to the work of the Organization, including his efforts to advance the urgent need to address climate change. We commit to our prayers memories of the late President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. He was a dedicated pan-Africanist whose pursuit of African integration, cooperation and solidarity shall forever remain in our minds and hearts.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are optimistic, because our country stands ready, on the threshold of a new direction.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“My Government will bolster Sierra Leone’s participation in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security, as a troop- and police-contributing country, and in supporting United Nations peacekeeping operations, especially with the deployment of formed units or contingents of both military and police. Sierra Leone stands ready to continue contributing to world peace and security. With a strong belief in a shared vision and a common destiny, Sierra Leone stands with the world in meeting global challenges. Sierra Leoneans also look to the world for the help it can offer in helping to consolidate Sierra Leone as an economically developed, open, inclusive and pluralistic democracy. As we often say, we are a country with a faith that wisdom inspires and one with a zeal that never tires.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We acknowledge the continued relevance of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, which constitute the global framework for preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects. We welcome the Secretary- General’s reform agenda on sustaining peace, including the efforts to reform peacekeeping, which is one of the most effective tools available to the United Nations for peace and security.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The world needs a stronger United Nations more than ever before, as well as consistent and effective multilateralism that collectively evaluates and cooperatively resolves humankind’s common challenges, from trade to climate change and from world security to our common humanity and our collective social and economic well-being. Our foreign policy should be driven by the golden rules of impartiality and cooperation. That is the only way that humankind can respond effectively, without hesitation, to the global challenges that we all face today.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We recall with great appreciation the magnanimity of the world as we dealt with recent deadly epidemics such as the Ebola virus disease, and the sustained interventions of our partners in helping us to battle tropical diseases, including malaria, cholera and typhoid. We need more help in all those areas and in expanding and maintaining all immunization levels at 100 per cent. My Government has increased health-care investment, but that will not be enough. We call on the international community to enhance our institutional and technical capacity for preventive health care and for managing public health and environmental sanitation issues, including waste management and storm-drain water management in urban areas. Sierra Leone welcomes the renewed commitment of the United Nations to conflict prevention, as embodied in its Charter.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We are fully committed to promoting a free press, rescinding adversarial public-order laws and protecting and promoting the right of citizens to know and access information. We have instituted a national civic-education commission to further ensure the unrestricted participation of every Sierra Leonean in our stable democracy. For all of these efforts, we need a constructive yet intensive and sustained engagement with our bilateral partners and partner institutions. My Government is committed to increasing equitable access to quality health care for Sierra Leoneans. We call on our bilateral partner organizations and private investors to help us invest in and develop our critical institutional, technical and human-resource capacity, as well as the infrastructure needed to ensure the delivery of quality health care for Sierra Leoneans.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Our development policies and priorities harness their vibrancy and direct it towards targeted education and skills training, entrepreneurship and strong civic participation. We are working on a comprehensive biometric identification system, so that all citizens can fully participate in the economic and civic life of our nation. In particular, we acknowledge the support of the United Nations Development Programme, Kiva and the United Nations Capital Development Fund in strengthening our national digital identification system. With their assistance we are modernizing our credit reference bureau, which will radically transform our financial inclusion landscape and the ease of doing business in our country.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We have launched a focused and sustained campaign against graft, waste and the misuse of public funds. Our revenue authority has streamlined revenue collection and reduced tax evasion and theft. We have launched a free quality education programme that provides access to basic and secondary education for girls and boys of school age. We are building, retooling and opening up our governance, health-care, financial and other institutions so as to empower our women and young people, the aged and our elderly and disabled compatriots. We are also reviewing discriminatory laws and practices, and will engage communities in order to change traditional structures that have excluded such persons. In particular, our young people, like their counterparts all over the world, are energized and eager to make Sierra Leone a better place.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We have set an ambitious and achievable target for 2025 of developing solid information and communication technologies infrastructure that will support graft-free governance and the delivery of effective, reliable, responsive and transparent services, ranging from banking and business to education, agricultural extension, revenue collection, health-care delivery, access to justice, governance, tourism, trade and the rule of law. We have undertaken extensive reforms, in line with the SDG 16+ Forum, to create a peaceful, just and inclusive Sierra Leone with resilient institutions. We are engaged in judiciary and criminal justice reform and, in collaboration with civil-society and partner organizations, we continue to build on gains in the delivery of justice that take into account disparities in access to justice.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We believe that investment in renewable energy sources and liquefied natural gas will help us to meet SDG 7 by modernizing our energy-generation systems, which will have a multiplier effect by helping our country to meet the SDGs for poverty alleviation through job creation and increased investments in health, water delivery and cities. We are determined to make Sierra Leone the renewable energy hub of the Economic Community of West African States region. Our vision is positive for our world’s climate, for foreign and local investors and development and for our country. My Government has a bold vision for science, technology and innovation. In that regard, I have established the first directorate of science, technology and innovation.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“My Government’s target of 60 per cent renewable energy capacity by 2030 is practicable, especially in terms of generating growth in rural areas. Sierra Leone, like most developing countries, has been on the expensive and dirty liquid-fuel treadmill since its independence. My Government is seeking international technical assistance and capacity-building for migrating a percentage of the country’s power generation away from heavy liquid fuel to natural gas that is trucked to site. In that regard, my Government is seeking collaboration with local companies and engineering companies from around the world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Among other things, my Government’s economic and development policies, as I stated earlier, create a congenial environment for credible private-sector investment and entrepreneurship. We are eager to work with and listen to the private sector. Our policies are enabling, and our investment framework is attractive. We can ensure the full legal protection of all investments, and we can ensure predictable and profitable revenue streams and returns on investments. Sierra Leone is starting to adopt renewable energy. We now need public and private investment for commercial and industrial uses, such as powering hotels, agriculture and small-scale manufacturing. My country is endowed with sufficient renewable energy resources in solar irradiation, coastal and offshore wind and mini-hydro and bioenergy.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“At the domestic level, my Government has established priority areas, including job creation, access to quality education, youth empowerment, the empowerment of women and the disabled, combating graft and corruption and fostering a culture of accountability and transparency, ensuring effective and efficient public-service delivery and strengthening civic responsibility and national cohesion. Guided by both our specific situation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our Government’s initiative and policy actions involve strengthening our democratic institutions, opening up democratic spaces, promoting democratic dialogue and creating a more just and equal society. We see those as precursors to the sustainable growth of our economy and our development as a nation.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Those 1.2 billion continue to contribute their fair share to maintaining world peace and security. About 70 per cent of the decisions taken in the Security Council ultimately affect those 1.2 billion Africans. Those 1.2 billion people, who are affected by more than 70 per cent of United Nations resolutions, are therefore asking why they should be excluded from the Security Council, where they simply want their voices to be fully represented. My Government’s blueprint document for moving our country forward, entitled “The New Direction”, focuses on taking Sierra Leone beyond the phase of peacebuilding and consolidation to firmly establishing a stable, peaceful, open and pluralistic democracy that is a responsible and committed member of the international community of nations.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Africa is committed to the ongoing reforms that will make the United Nations fit for purpose in the twenty- first century. As the Coordinator of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the reform of the United Nations, we reiterate our concern about this body’s continued inaction on adopting measures that will enable Africa to take its rightful place in the Council. Unless and until we are able to contend with the reform of the Security Council, the most critical question of the day, the Organization will remain seemingly constituted on undemocratic and discriminatory principles. I want to emphasize the urgent importance of comprehensive reform of the Security Council by pointing out that 1.2 billion of the world’s 7.5 billion people are African.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The present geopolitical realities compel us to work to comprehensively reform the Security Council in order to ensure equitable representation in every organ of the United Nations. Africa is the only continent without representation in the permanent category of the Security Council, and is also underrepresented in the non-permanent category. Africa’s demand for two permanent seats with all the rights and prerogatives of current members, including the right of veto, and for two additional non-permanent seats, is a matter of common justice and the right to have an equal say in decision-making on issues that affect the African region. It is time that we addressed without further delay the long-standing injustice and imbalance that is being perpetuated in the present configuration of the Security Council.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Assembly made a historic pledge during the 2005 World Summit to strengthen the United Nations with a view to enhancing its authority and effectiveness, as well as its capacity to address effectively, and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter, the full range of the challenges of our time. A number of gains have been made, including the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council and the adoption of resolutions on the responsibility to protect. Those are laudable gains, but the need for reform is also urgent and imperative. We should now endeavour to demonstrate the political will to redress specifically the historical injustice done to the African continent.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In addition to our firm commitment to good governance and the prudent and accountable management of our nation’s resources, we are ready to foster a congenial environment that is conducive to credible gross domestic product growth. We call on our bilateral partners to help us deliver on our people’s expectations through the provision of development funds and technical assistance and the cultivation of valuable trade links. We cordially invite all credible investors to an open and congenial investment environment, in which all their investments are guaranteed and protected by our relevant laws. We have worked assiduously to remove barriers to investment, and I ask all such investors to help us sustain our democracy.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We are a successful model of a stable democracy, one that has evolved and matured over 20 years from the chaos and lawlessness of civil conflict. However, stable democracies must also be sustainable. Sierra Leoneans voted for a change of Government and for a new direction and the right direction. My Government is ready to maximize our country’s potential for development, because we believe that development sustains emerging, successful and stable democracies like ours. The international community has invested hugely in facilitating and stabilizing Sierra Leone’s democracy, and it must continue to play its role in sustaining Sierra Leone’s democracy, in collaboration with the Government and the people of Sierra Leone.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In April Sierra Leoneans registered their commitment to democratic governance with yet another peaceful transfer of power from a political incumbent to the opposition. We acknowledge with humility the many messages of commendation from various parts of the world for our conduct of peaceful and credible presidential, parliamentary and local council elections, which led to my election as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. On behalf of the people of Sierra Leone, let me say that we sincerely appreciate the international community’s invaluable contributions to facilitating and monitoring our electoral process. We acknowledge the role played by the United Nations and our development partners in supporting the successful conduct of the elections.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Our commitment to building a peaceful and more secure world, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, as well as our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the ongoing reform processes of the United Nations, perfectly resonates with the theme for this session, “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”. The work of the United Nations should continue to be guided by the values on which it was founded, including the promotion of peace, security, human rights, the equality of all nations, social progress and better living standards.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It is a distinct honour for me to address the General Assembly for the very first time as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. On behalf of the Government and the people of Sierra Leone, I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the Government and the people of the Republic of Ghana and to the United Nations family on the passing of Kofi Atta Annan, former Secretary- General of the United Nations. He served humankind and the world with distinction, and in our country’s hour of need he helped to steer it out of a deep abyss of seemingly intractable war. May he rest in perfect peace. He always showed us what was possible and the best in humankind.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)