|
|
Liberia: UN Sees Peacekeeping Success in Country
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)
16 April 2008
Posted to the web 17 April 2008
Thalif Deen
The United Nations, which is battling a rash of political and logistical problems in its troubled peace missions in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, is rejoicing over the relative success of its peacekeeping operations in the once war-ravaged Liberia.
The U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which was created in September 2003, is gradually winding down operations in view of the termination of the West African nation's conflicts and its steady progress towards political stability.
"Liberia has been free of conflict for the past four years and there is good news coming out of the country," says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
But he warns that "hope and tranquility we see today is tempered by a tenuous and fragile peace".
Still, a battalion each from Namibia and Bangladesh has already been withdrawn, while the Ghanaian and Nigerian battalions have been reduced by one company each. Another battalion from Senegal will be repatriated by June this year.
By the end of September, a total of 2,450 troops would be repatriated, leaving UNMIL's troop strength at 11,691. The troops are mostly from Pakistan (3,403), Bangladesh (2,811), Nigeria (1,862) and Ethiopia (1,801).
The authorised strength of UNMIL is around 16,000 uniformed personnel as well as civilian staff. In 2006-2007, the total UNMIL budget was 688 million dollars.
In view of the political progress in Liberia, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution last year approving a decision by the secretary-general to reduce UNIMIL's military component by 2,450 troops.
Meanwhile, the drawdown of the police component of UNMIL will begin by late April when 498 police advisers will leave in seven stages through December 2010, bringing the police strength to 742 by December 2010.
Ellen Margrethe Loj, the U.N. special representative in Liberia, told the Security Council Monday that the challenges in the country now relate mostly to internal security, rule of law, governance and economic development, all of which are closely interlinked.
Although the security situation along Liberia's borders with its three neighbouring countries has been calm, she said, the situation on all three borders will continue to be monitored by UNMIL.
"This is because unrest in any of Liberia's neighbouring countries will have immediate negative consequences for the security situation in Liberia and vice versa," she added.
As a result, Liberia will continue to rely heavily on the presence of the remaining UNMIL military and police forces.
She also told the Security Council that Liberia today "is a place of hope, characterised by many positive developments."
In a report to the Security Council last month, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said there has been "steady progress" in Liberia over the last two years and the "overall situation remains stable".
But still the security situation remains fragile and further progress is needed in a number of areas to truly solidify progress, he added.
In her annual address to the legislature in January, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said the country had an economic growth rate of 9.0 percent and the revenues for the first 11 months of 2007 amounted to about 163 million dollars. This, she said, had surpassed the projected annual target of 152 million dollars.
The World Bank and the African Development Bank also cleared over 671 million dollars of the 4.8 billion debt owed by Liberia. The International Monetary Fund had agreed to a financing arrangement that would forgive some 920 million dollars of Liberia's debts.
In his report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said that although the humanitarian situation in Liberia has continued to improve, "the country still faces serious challenges in several sectors, particularly health, education, food, water and sanitation."
So far, Liberia has received only 62 percent of the 110 million dollars needed to address high priority humanitarian needs.
Still, there are a number of tasks critical to the sustainability of peace and stability that are yet to be fully implemented, he added.
These include the reform of the legal and judicial systems, the re-integration of war-affected populations and the extension of the rule of law throughout the country.
In addition, he noted, Liberia still faces significant reconstruction and development challenges, including pervasive poverty, food insecurity, high unemployment, massive illiteracy, poor infrastructure and inadequate delivery of basic health and education services.
Meanwhile, the United States is leading an international effort -- along with China, Germany, Nigeria, Benin and Ghana -- to train and restructure a proposed 2,000-strong army in Liberia. The total number of trained recruits so far is 1,124, most of whom have graduated from the Barclay Training Centre and Camp Ware in Liberia.
In December, three rifle companies of the First Infantry Battalion were activated at a ceremony presided over by President Johnson-Sirleaf.
Currently, three officers from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria, who were seconded to the Liberian Ministry of Defence, are assisting in the command and control of those units.
|
Meanwhile, about 15 Liberian military personnel are undergoing officer and specialist training at Nigerian military institutions, while several other officers have benefited from specialist training in China, the United States and Germany.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
