Speeches

USG Closing Statement Consultative Group Meeting

November 29-30, 2005

USG CLOSING STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE FOURTH CONSULTATIVE GROUP MEETING, LONDON

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency the Vice President, Honorable Ministers and fellow participants.

Thank you for the opportunity to make a statement on behalf of the United States of America.  First, however, I would like to thank the Department for International Development (DfID), the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Government of Sierra Leone for the splendid preparations and organization that have facilitated this significant Fourth Consultative Group meeting.
 
The U.S. Government remains a close and dependable partner and, as such, the people of the United States renew their commitment to the people of Sierra Leone and the international community in responding to the welcome opportunity to continue our support to Sierra Leone’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).  With our other donor colleagues, we will continue to assist Sierra Leone in its recovery and look forward to continuing our effective and important collaboration with both the government and the people of Sierra Leone as the country moves from peace keeping to peace building.
 
The United States Government is proud of the part it has played in the stabilization and reconstruction of Sierra Leone to date, especially our support to UNAMSIL’s peace keeping operation, and we are committed to the continued development of Sierra Leone.  We believe that our development program is consistent with and complimentary to the PRSP that we have all endorsed over the past two days.
 
Due to the funding process, timing, and budgetary cycle, the U. S. Government has no new money to pledge to the implementation of the PRSP, but our current ongoing program remains robust and responsive to the key needs identified by the people and the Government of Sierra Leone, as described in the PRSP.  We are working closely with the Government, other key Sierra Leonean stakeholders and the international donor community to ensure greater harmonization that will allow the United States Government’s funding to contribute in a known, transparent way to a successful implementation process to bring about the necessary changes which will cement stability internally and in the region.
 
To illustrate our committed focus on the PRSP implementation, I will briefly provide an overview of our bilateral assistance.
 
USAID has major projects in line with the Government of Sierra Leone’s priorities to address peace, security and stability, focusing on those sectors most likely to benefit the country’s ability to consolidate peace and maintain stability while helping to improve the environment for productive and prosperous development.
 
One of USAID’s major programs addresses the priority of food security. Through its agriculture and job creation initiatives USAID is providing agriculture-related services to private sector entrepreneurs, public sector entities, local farmers’ organizations, women’s and youth groups and cooperatives, and small-scale businesses.  Additionally, USAID repairs key infrastructure, including housing units, community buildings and tertiary roads, in order to enhance overall productive and marketing capacity and long-term food security.
 
The United States believes it is essential to immediately and effectively address the needs and reasonable demands of unemployed and unskilled youth, particularly in Freetown and the major urban centers, who pose a real and alarming threat to stability. To this end, USAID has activities that will create business opportunities, especially for youth as well as women. We expect to announce a major new program for sustainable job creation within a few months as part of a revised USAID Strategy under consideration in Washington.
 
Additionally, through its local governance program, USAID works to promote decentralization by enhancing the effectiveness and responsiveness of newly formed local government councils, traditional leaders and civil society by promoting open debate, strengthening the capacity of local government councils, providing effective advocacy skills, informing citizens of their rights and responsibilities and helping to build a more and better informed society through strengthening of professional media. Training and mentoring programs for newly-elected local leaders, community activists, and some Paramount Chiefs and Members of Parliament, will encourage informed dialogue, transparency, accountability, responsibility and leadership, thereby enhancing the level of active community participation required to build a democratic inclusive society.
 
In cooperation with the Government of Sierra Leone, civil society and our donor partners, USAID’s diamond sector initiative is working to foster transparency, reform and community benefits, including revenue generation through the Diamond Area Development Community Fund (DADCF), to the local diamond mining areas.
 
We also plan to provide technical assistance and support to the newly reconstituted National Election Commission and its efforts to ensure transparent, free and fair elections in 2007 and onward.
 
In addition, the United States Government has many smaller projects supportive of the PRSP.  A short illustrative list includes:
 
Protecting the welfare of women and children through Trafficking in Persons programs;
 
Providing essential $25 million financial guarantees for resumption of the rutile mining operation;
 
Assisting in the conservation of the national parks, forests, and endangered species;
 
Strengthening Sierra Leone’s capacity to protect its territorial waters against illegal fishing and smuggling;
 
Giving scholarships to 3000 girls in primary schools;
 
Communicating the message of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention to the general public through programs for the Ministry of Defense;
 
Conducting 24 regional USAID programs benefiting Sierra Leone, as well as its neighbors; and
 
Awarding small grants directly to communities and civil society organizations for community development and human rights projects.
 
Overall, the annual American contribution through bilateral and multilateral channels exceeds $45 million.
Despite increasing austerity in the U.S. Government due to the substantial cost of the war on terror and Hurricane Katrina, I expect that the U.S. Government’s assistance level for Sierra Leone will not only be sustained, but will rise in recognition of the critical role this PRSP will have in the development of Sierra Leone and in contributing, through Sierra Leone’s example, to greater stability in the West Africa sub-region.  While I cannot pledge new funding at this time, I can pledge continued assistance to Sierra Leone and strong support for the objectives of the PRSP.

Thank you