New York/Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1 March 2007 --- The Secretary-General of the United Nations today announced that an allocation of US Dollars 35 million will be made available from the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) in support of Sierra Leone. This announcement follows a review in New York of the Priority Plan submitted jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations presence in the country.
The allocation will be used to fund projects in the areas of youth employment and empowerment, democracy and good governance, justice and security as well as public service delivery.

Against the backdrop of the discussion in the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the Government and the United Nations presence in Sierra Leone jointly conducted a country level analysis of critical gaps in the peacebuilding efforts and drew up a national priority plan that has been endorsed by the stakeholders in Sierra Leone. Civil Society Organizations continued to play a key role to ensure the country’s effective engagement with the Peacebuilding Commission
The Peacebuilding Fund is established from voluntary contributions, as part of the new peacebuilding architecture, under the authority of the Secretary-General. It seeks to address critical peacebuilding priorities and benefits countries such as Sierra Leone, under consideration by the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as others in similar circumstances, as designated by the Secretary-General.

The Peacebuilding Commission formally declared Sierra Leone as eligible for PBF funding in October 2006. The allocation of the fund now paves the way for the implementation of projects in the four priority areas following a review and approval by the Peacebuilding Steering Committee in Sierra Leone, co-chaired by the Government and the United Nations. A Peacebuilding Fund Steering Committee, comprising Government, civil society, external partners and the United Nations presence in Sierra Leone, has been established.

Member States have so far pledged some USD 210 million to the Peacebuilding Fund. This is the second such allocation made under the Peacebuilding Fund following an earlier country envelope in support of Burundi, the other country currently under consideration by the Peacebuilding Commission.

Speaking at the UN’s New York Headquarters, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding, Ms. Carolyn McAskie said “the Peacebuilding Fund will support critical interventions in Sierra Leone and we hope that it can play an important catalytic role in attracting additional donor support to further consolidate the peace process.”

After the end of a destructive eleven-year conflict, the Government of Sierra Leone, with the support of the United Nations and other external partners, has made significant progress towards lasting peace, national recovery and democratization of the country. However, these achievements remain vulnerable and need to be consolidated and sustained with the support of the international community.


聯合國於3月1日宣佈捐助三千五百萬美元協助位於獅子山共和國的PBF(Peace building Fund)以回復當地和平；此外，當地的CSO(Civil Society Organizations)也將會協助PBF能順利運行。關於PBF，這係由各地募集資金所構成的基金，用來幫助各個需要幫助的地區，像是獅子山以及其他類似狀況的地區。而在紐約，PBC(Peacebuilding Commission)總部，的Carolyn McAskie小姐表示：PBF是個協助國家重建和平的機制。但這重新建立的和平依然脆弱無助，需要各地人士能出錢出力，幫助PBF，幫助各地需要幫助的國家。

註：獅子山共和國的PBF成立於2006年10月資料來源：http://www.uniosil.org/