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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Sierra Leone: Conference Report
Sierra Leone: Conference Report
Date distributed (ymd): 970713
Document reposted by APIC
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SUMMARY REPORT OF EMERGENCY MEETING ON CRISIS IN SIERRA LEONE
Contact Persons: Ismail Rashid (514 484 9779) and Adrian Q. Labor (613
236 6163 Ex 2266)
C/O Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), 1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1200, Ottawa
Ontario, Canada KIN 7B7.
Fax: (613 562 8334) Email: [email protected]
An Emergency Conference on the crisis in Sierra Leone took place in
Ottawa on Friday, July 4, 1997 at the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa. The conference was sponsored by Partnership Africa
Canada (PAC), a coalition of African and Canadian NGOs.
The Ottawa meeting was co-chaired by former Canadian cabinet minister,
the Honourable Flora MacDonald, and by the Director of the Christian Health
Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL), Marion Morgan. It drew representatives
from African and Canadian non-governmental organizations, religious organizations
and Sierra Leonean groups in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Boston.
During the morning plenary meeting and afternoon workshops, some 50
speakers and participants, including the Sierra Leone Ambassador to the
United States and Ambassador Designate to Canada, H.E. John Leigh, shared
information and ideas on the situation in Sierra Leone. The participants
discussed the origins and character of the crisis in Sierra Leone and ways
in which it can be constructively resolved. The immediate and medium-term
needs of the country were considered and suggestions made on how the Canadian
government, non-governmental organizations and Sierra Leoneans can contribute.
Participants devoted special attention to Canada's response to the crisis
and ways in which that response can be supported, strengthened and more
concretely expressed. Ways in which Sierra Leonean groups can effectively
organize and coordinate their activities to keep the government and people
of Canada informed about the situation in Sierra Leone, and work effectively
with Canadian and African non-governmental organizations to help resolve
the crisis in Sierra Leone were also discussed.
RESOLUTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:
Short Term Issues and Needs
Among the many proposals and suggestions arising out of the meeting
were to:
- commend Canada for the swift and principled condemnation of the attempted
coup and recognize the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, for
his appeal to Commonwealth countries and members of the international community
to press for an immediate, peaceful return to democracy in Sierra Leone;
- encourage the Canadian Government to continue to strengthen its diplomatic
isolation of, and non-cooperation with the regime of Armed Forces Revolutionary
Council (AFRC) and Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and to extend this
policy to include Canadian businesses and public organizations currently
operating in Sierra Leone;
- ask the Canadian Government and people to express their strong support
for the African initiative being undertaken by ECOWAS and OAU countries
to resolve the crisis, and for the efforts of the legitimate government
and its representatives and civic groups in resisting the military junta
and in restoring democracy in Sierra Leone;
- request that the Canadian Government provide diplomatic and material
support for the legitimate and democratically elected government of President
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and the Sierra Leonean Parliament in exile to enable
them to continue to function as effectively as possible especially with
regard to meetings, travel and communication (particularly with people
of Sierra Leone);
- ask the Canadian Government and NGOs to help encourage the active participation
of the different components of civil society in Sierra Leone in the resolution
of the stand-off and in the restoration and strengthening of the democratic
process; provide diplomatic and material support for civilian groups which
have been active in the passive resistance against the coup and the restoration
of democracy in Sierra Leone;
- ask the Canadian Government and NGOs to provide urgently needed relief
for Sierra Leonean refugees displaced in Guinea, Gambia, Ghana and other
countries in the West African subregion, and to encourage and support the
efforts of these African governments whose resources are being stretched
as a result of the crisis in Sierra Leone;
- ensure that various Sierra Leonean groups organize and coordinate their
efforts to effectively inform and lobby the Canadian public and government
and to network and cooperate with other African NGOs in the resolution
of the crisis;
- work on the possibility of setting up a secretariat or office which
will help in the organization and coordination of efforts by Sierra Leone
groups;
On Medium Term Issues and Needs
- ensure that the Canadian government, the international community, NGOs
and Sierra Leoneans will help promote and support a resolution of the crisis,
which includes not only the restoration of legitimate government and parliament,
but also the strengthening of the democratic process and institutions in
Sierra Leone;
- alert the Canadian government, NGOs and the international community
to be prepared to provide the urgent relief and rehabilitation which will
be needed in Sierra Leone after the resolution of the stand-off;
- request that the Canadian government also provide expert advice and
support for the encampment, demobilization and monitoring of all armed
groups, the retraining of the state security forces and the rehabilitation
and reintegration of armed combatants into society;
- appeal to the Canadian government and NGOs to support the rehabilitation
and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure of Sierra Leone,
the harnessing of the country's natural and human resources and the development
and implementation of training and employment programs for women and youth.
Participants in the meeting hoped that these suggestions and proposals
will help provide direction for the role that Canada, NGOs and Sierra Leonean
groups can play in the resolution of the crisis, and institution of long-term
peace and development in Sierra Leone.
A six-person delegation consisting of Hon. Flora MacDonald, Mrs. Marion
Morgan (CHASL), Mr Adrian Labour (IDRC / Coordinator Emergency Conference),
Mr. David Haslett (CUSO), Mr. Bernard Taylor (PAC) and Mr. Ismail Rashid
(McGill University / Sierra Leonean Groups in Canada) was chosen to present
the discussions and conclusions to the Canadian Secretary of State for
Latin America and Africa, Mr. David Kilgour at a meeting scheduled for
Monday July 7, 1997.
Ottawa, July 8 1997
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups and individuals.
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