UN News Centre June 15 2010
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the “tremendous progress” Sierra Leone has made in consolidating peace and development less than one decade after the end of the West African nation’s brutal civil war.
This article appeared on AllAfrica.com on June 10 2010
Freetown — Sierra Leone has been ranked the 53rd most peaceful country in the world out of 149 countries surveyed by the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2010.
The World Cup brings the planet together more effectively than any treaty or convention ever can. It affirms our common humanity, at a time when so much of the news does the opposite.
For decades, it has been seen as the world's lost continent. Now, a new study says that the view of Africa as a basket case is wrong. As the continent prepares to welcome thousands of international football fans for the World Cup in June, it seems the image of an economically vibrant region the hosts are keen to project is closer to the truth than tired stereotypes suggest.
Could the football World Cup be taking place in Africa fortuitously just as the outlook brightens, with the strategic importance of the continent and improvements in the business climate simultaneously on the rise? A steady flow of multibillion-dollar investments, reviving terms of trade and growing interest in regional markets suggest another opportunity is knocking at the continent's door.
With women making up 56% of MPs in the Rwandan parliament life is changing fast for women in Rwanda.
Liberia’s ‘Iron Lady’ – the continent’s first elected female president – says the positive effect of good governance shows in the stark contrast between her country today and when civil war ravaged the land. "The positive effect of good governance is starkly illustrated in the contrast between my country Liberia today and when civil war ravaged the land. For 14 years, our infrastructure was systematically destroyed, schools were demolished, hospitals were ransacked and plantations were ripped up. Since then, with the help of the international community, including aid agencies and private partners, a democratically elected government has begun the process of rebuilding a shattered nation."
Sierra Leone, with one of the worst death rates for women in childbirth in the world, has launched free care for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their young children
The death of Aminata Marah in childbirth was a wake-up call for Dr Samuel A.S. Kargbo. Sierra Leone's reproductive health minister tells of the steps he has taken to try to ensure no such tragedy happens again.
