Transition Initiatives: Sierra Leone Field Report
October 2000
Program Description
The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), together with Management Systems International (MSI) and World Vision, began implementing a Reintegration Training and Education for Peace Program in January 2000. The program is designed to support the Sierra Leone Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Program.
Given the recent changes in the security situation in Sierra Leone, OTI has reviewed and revised its activities to ensure they address the key issues in advancing a peaceful democratic transition. Building on training originally designed for ex-combatants and non-combatant youth activists, OTI and its implementing partners are designing a series of workshops that will address nation building topics. The workshops will incorporate a new target population of local government officials, civil servants, village leaders and civil society. This activity complements the Education for Peace program while building unity and direction within community leadership.
USAID's Africa Bureau will provide Development Assistance (DA) funding to OTI for an employment generation, skills training, and apprenticeship activity, building on the Education for
Peace Program.
Country Situation
The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has
described the security situation as generally calm across Sierra
Leone, except for the ongoing cross-border military activities in
the northern part of Sierra Leone bordering Guinea. Reports reaching
the UN Mission in Sierra Leone UNAMSIL indicate about 50% of
Revolutionary United Front rebels (RUF) from the eastern town of
Tongo have joined ranks with Guinean rebels to destabilize that
country. The major security concern at the moment appears to be the
Guinean troops' continuous bombing of RUF-held territories
within Kambia, inside Sierra Leone. With no major changes in the
military situation, the capital, Freetown, continues to be secure
and the highway through Occra Hill, Masiaka and Mile 91 remains
operational with less harassment at checkpoints, though there are
still reports of harassment and extortion by the Civil Defense Force
(CDF).
Human rights agencies report significant RUF
looting, harassment and arson in Lunsar and villages around the
northwestern town of Mambolo. There are also reports of human rights
violations by CDF in government-controlled areas. Across the borders
there are reports of more Sierra Leoneans tortured in Guinea.
UNAMSIL human rights officers have been monitoring the situation and
putting in place modalities for the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission and the Special Court. However, the trial of children by
the Special Court remains unresolved.
The number of people in almost all displaced camps
in the country appears to be swelling, owing to the crisis across
the borders with Guinea and Liberia. UNHCR registered 6,744
returnees in Lungi and 2,584 in Kenema area. Humanitarian food
agencies describe the food stock levels in the sub-region as
precarious, as all stock will be exhausted within the first quarter
of next year, unless additional stock is obtained. Serious food
shortages and malnutrition already threaten Daru, Kabala, Bumbuna,
and Mile 91. Even worse situations in rebel-held territory are yet
to be addressed by humanitarian agencies waiting to get clearance
from the Sierra Leone government.
Added to the unwelcome news of an imminent Indian
pullout is the threat by the Jordanian contingent to withdraw from
the UN Force by the end of the year. However, the announcement by
Britain to field 400 troops with three additional training teams for
the Sierra Leone Army, as well as a standby Naval Rapid Reaction
Force, has given an instant boost to the beleaguered force.
Additionally, United States support for peace enforcement operations
in Operation Focus Relief involving battalions from Nigeria, Ghana
and a third country will soon be realized. Meanwhile, it is reported
that the U.S. is working for a UNAMSIL resolution that provides a
mandate to support the Sierra Leone Army in compelling RUF
compliance with its obligation to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate
into society.
A high profile delegation of eleven representatives
from the UN Security Council ended a successful mission to Sierra
Leone aimed at helping Sierra Leoneans rebuild their future, and
backing the current UN peace-keeping efforts. A report on their
findings has been submitted to the Security Council for action.
Already, discord sparked off within UNAMSIL by the Indian General
Jetely's accusation that Nigerian troops are involved in the illegal
diamond trade has earned Kenyan three-star General Daniel Opande the
leadership of the UN Force. He is to be assisted by a Nigerian
Deputy Force Commander and a British Chief of Staff.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the Sierra
Leone Army, backed by the CDF, is poised to dislodge the RUF from
all major mining areas. There is also talk of a new cease-fire
agreement with the RUF to be brokered by ECOWAS and sanctioned by
the UN.
On the political front, an opposition grand
alliance has been pressing for an interim Sierra Leone government as
a pre-condition for conducting elections at the end of President
Kabbah's current term in office in February 2001.
New NGO Legislation
Negotiations between the international NGO
community in Sierra Leone and the Government of Sierra Leone through
the Ministry of Development to modify the new NGO policy to reflect
donor requirements on purchasing, taxation, and management of grants
appear deadlocked. Although the Sierra Leone Association of
Non-Governmental Organization (SLANGO) is yet to make its position
known, UNDP is of the opinion that there is tremendous goodwill on
both sides to resolve the impasse as soon as possible.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
Education for Peace Program
So far some 12,000 participants have benefited from
the Education for Peace Program. About 20% of these are women and
20% are official ex-combatants. There are actually more participants
who were involved in war activities over the nine years but they
have not had weapons and therefore do not qualify for the DDR
process. Because the war continues and people are hesitant to be
identified as former fighters, it is difficult to reach the 50%
ex-combatant target. World Vision staff are in the process of
reviewing the list of participants to reflect accurate
information.
A sixth cycle of training for Learning Facilitators
in the EPP program using graduates of the nation building workshops
is planned for fifteen communities, to enable them to gain hands-on
experience in the use of training techniques. World Vision will be
spending three months monitoring the existing program with the
assistance of Master Trainers in the Education for Peace Program.
This will offer adequate time to locate more ex-combatants and
ensure the quality of the training.
The Education for Peace Program continues to make a
positive impact in many ways. The pressure on the program to
accommodate more participants, even at their own cost, is becoming a
constant feature of the program in participating communities. In
these communities the participants, particularly the women, confess
that this is their first opportunity to express themselves publicly,
and that the training has raised their level of confidence.
As an important milestone, the program successfully
ended four sets of Learning Facilitators' training in the
RUF-besieged township of Daru on October 26. The training attracted
over forty ex-combatants (including RUF rebels) among eighty
participants who received their certificates. National Committee on
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) officials
stationed in Daru described the training as a resounding success.
They were pleased that, as a result of the training, the attitude of
the ex-combatants in the demobilization camp was gradually changing
from one based on violence to one in favor of dialogue. This, one
official said, is evident by the reduced incidence of violent events
in the camp since the training started. During the certification
ceremony one of the participants, an ex-RUF rebel, thanked the
organizers for assisting him to realize his dreams and pledged to
work with the people of Daru to achieve peace and development.
In Potoru, one of the earliest towns to be
devastated by rebel activities, the Learning Facilitators observed
that they have earned respect and recognition by participating in
the project. Lahai Magona, an ex-combatant who graduated from the
program, remarked that as a result of the training, his local chief
now consults him and his colleagues on issues relating to conflict
resolution and reconciliation. For example, he recalled being asked
recently to adjudicate in a chieftaincy conflict involving two
families.
The program is already attracting the interest of
other agencies that work in the same localities. Two separate
UNAMSIL detachments have indicated interest in providing support for
skills training and income generation activities for the Sackville,
Lungi and Approved School communities. Similar approaches are being
made to the Bumpeh community in southern Sierra Leone by GTZ, the
German development agency.
Media Program
Talking Drum Studios/Search for Common Ground
(TDS), an OTI grantee, is gaining a dynamic reputation for its
professional radio programs aired on five different stations
countrywide. In particular, it has been sensitizing communities on
the activities and gains of the Education for Peace Program using
its popular Golden Kids News and Common Ground features. In
collaboration with World Vision and NCDDR, TDS is in the process of
reestablishing Radio Mankneh, formerly based in Makeni, now located
at Mile 91 to articulate and consolidate the gains of the peace
process in an area very close to rebel-held territory. Already the
station is using FM radio airwaves in Freetown as it awaits
disbursement of funds from World Vision. Many of the residents of
Makeni are displaced in and around Mile 91.
During one of TDS's routine filming and interview
sessions in a displaced camp in Freetown, an ex-combatant who had
lost every hope of seeing his parents discovered his long-lost aunt.
The aunt was equally surprised to see that this young boy was not
dead, as they had presumed after his abduction. She told the young
man that his father, a teacher, was very much alive and often comes
to the camp to collect his salary. This interview was filmed and
recorded by children themselves, who also hope to document the
eventual reunion of this boy and his father - after six years of
separation.
Nation Building Workshops
The six-week workshop for the nation building
Master Trainers attracted thirty participants from across the
country. The training started in Freetown October 9 and will be
completed on November 17. The new Master Trainers will be
responsible for facilitating nation building workshops as well as
monitoring on-going activities and training participants in their
own regions. World Vision, in collaboration with MSI, is finalizing
plans to select a cadre of personnel drawn from government
officials, district/provincial administrators, police, religious and
civil society leaders to be trained as the first set of participants
for the nation building program. This program complements and
extends the Education for Peace Program more deeply into the
community. The materials developed are both consistent with the
message that all people can be involved in good governance and that
they can participate more fully to change their lives. The learning
modules foster patriotism and community unity.
Technical Assistance on Conflict Diamonds
OTI has continued its technical assistance to the
Government of Sierra Leone, to develop and implement new policies
for diamond mining and marketing. Diamonds have fueled violence
against civilians and war against the state. This OTI initiative,
originating in the Lome Peace Agreement, is part of an international
effort to curb "conflict" diamonds.
The Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL) resumed the
legal export of diamonds in October, following a recommendation by
the UN Sanctions Committee on September 29 that an exemption be
granted under paragraph five of UN Resolution 1306 (2000), which
imposed sanctions on the import of diamonds of Sierra Leone origin,
not duly certified. This culminates the work of a Trilateral
Technical Assistance team, led by OTI and including the Governments
of Belgium, the UK, and U.S., and the Diamond High Council (HRD) of
Belgium. The development of mechanisms to control
"conflict" diamonds in Sierra Leone has been spearheaded
by OTI with the HRD. The trilateral team with the GOSL designed a
new certification of origin system, complete with an electronic
tracking system, digital photographs and other security features.
The HRD contributed the equipment for the electronic recording of
diamond exports and imports, which will become the model for a
world-wide diamond certification system. A delegation from the UN
Security Council was in Freetown on October 12 to launch the new
certification regime. A great deal of work remains to be done, to
ensure that "conflict" diamonds do not enter mainstream,
legitimate markets, and to increase the income to the
poverty-stricken diamond-producing areas in Sierra Leone.
B. Grants Activity Summary
World Vision awarded a grant for $8,943 to Talking
Drum Studios to set up a small community based radio station in Mile
91 to enhance the dissemination of peace and reconciliation
messages. It is hoped that this will promote the disarmament process
in the northern region.
Arrangements for the funding of three other grants
to civil society groups are being finalized. Campaign for Good
Governance (CGG), a local NGO advocating good governance in Sierra
Leone, will receive $50,000 to build and strengthen networks of
civic groups, sensitize local government authorities on issues of
decentralization, and conducting training of trainers for human
right monitors.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)
will receive $11,000 for peace promotion. The program is designed to
help reintegrate girls affected by war into the community and teach
them conflict resolution, mediation and trauma healing along with
basic literacy and vocational training. It is foreseen that FAWE
will continue working with girls after the program is over,
incorporating them as community organizers.
The Network Movement for Justice and Development
will receive $21,000 to train 253 Community Management Committee
members in the eastern and southern provinces. This training
facilitates the reintegration of ex-combatants, child soldiers and
refugees and displaced. This program will enhance their
understanding and practice of the Education for Youth concepts and
principles and build leadership and management skills.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
As a follow-up to the successful training in Daru
and the need to cover the growing demand of ex-combatants to benefit
from the training, four more training sites for Learning
Facilitators will be set up. Part of November, December and January
will be used for comprehensive monitoring of all training sites.
OTI is reviewing a proposal on voter education and
election information campaign submitted by TDS.
OTI will continue to work with the Ministry of
Mines to finalize the procedure for complying with the UN Sanctions
Committee.
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