The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, has yesterday arrived in Sierra Leone on a weeklong visit.
Simão is in Sierra Leone together with Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, former Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia to monitor the National Unity Agreement signed between the main opposition All People’s Congress(APC) and the Government of Sierra Leone.
The UN diplomat will take part, from 15 to 18 October, in the joint high-level ECOWAS-UNOWAS-AU-Commonwealth Follow Up Mission of the International Moral Guarantors on the Agreement of the National Unity, signed on 18 October 2023 between the Government and the All-People’s Congress Party (APC).
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, had in consultations with Leonardo Santos Simão,deployed the joint Monitoring Mission of the International Moral Guarantors to Sierra Leone from 15-18 October 2024, on the implementation of the Agreement for National Unity.
The Mission, which is co-led by Leonardo Santos Simão and Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, former Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, is backstopped by experts from the respective institutions, including the Commonwealth and the country’s Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC).
The Mission will hold consultations with the Government of Sierra Leone and the leadership of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party, other political parties, leadership of the national parliament, the judiciary, including the hierarchy of the Security Agencies, the Electoral Commission, the Political Parties Regulation Commission, as well as with the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) among others.
The Mission will engage stakeholders on progress made in the implementation of the Agreement for National Unity as well as actions being taken concerning the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee’s Report.
Special Representative Simão is also scheduled to meet with President, Julius Maada Bio, Parties of the agreement of the national unity, the Mano River Union leadership, the UN Country Team, diplomatic corps and other key actors.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General will further co-chair on 15 October, the regional annual Open Day UNSCR 1325 (2000) on Gender, Women, Youth, Peace, and Security with Timothy Kabba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), UN Women, in collaboration with their partners and the Government of Sierra Leone, will also be organizing the 15th edition of the Regional Open Day on Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and subsequent, on women, youth, peace and security.
Chaired by Leonardo Santos Simão, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Kabba, the 2024 Regional Open Day aims at assessing the level of progress in the implementation of Resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent, in West Africa and the Sahel.
It will also be an opportunity to engage in dialogue with women and young leaders in the sub-region on the challenges and synergies for the effective implementation of the Women, Youth, Peace and Security Agenda.
The “Open Day” was launched in 2010 to provide an opportunity for women and young leaders from the sub-region to meet directly with senior UN officials and share their experiences, concerns and priorities for a better contribution to national and regional efforts in conflict resolution and security building.
