Mr Babatunde Ahonsi, UN Resident Coordinator Opening Remarks at Quarter 3 Ministerial DEPAC Meeting

21 October 2021

Honourable Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Francis Kai Kai,

Honourable Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr. Timothy Kabba,

Honourable Minister of Lands and Country Planning, Dr. Turad Senessie,

Honourable Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ms. Emma Kowa,

Honourable Minister of The Environment, Professor Foday Jaward,

Country Manager of World Bank, Dr. Abdu Muwonge,

Official representatives of the diplomatic corps and development organizations,

United Nations colleagues,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 2021 Third Quarter Ministerial DEPAC meeting.  As UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone and co-chair of DEPAC, I am pleased to be a part of this important discussion today which has been framed to focus on policy issues that directly affect the development aspirations of Sierra Leone.

As an integral part of the development partners community, the UN system has collaborated with the Government of Sierra Leone in the implementation of the country’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) priorities which are well-aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The past two years have been challenging, not only for Sierra Leone as a country but for the world at large. COVID-19 has interrupted our development process and, in some areas, reversed the gains we have made. I am delighted that in Sierra Leone we are working together to build back better from these challenges. The DEPAC forum is a valuable part of these efforts as a high-level platform to discuss mitigating, action-oriented policies to address development challenges, including the impact of COVID-19.  

After careful deliberations by development partners and the Government of Sierra Lerone, the theme for this third quarter DEPAC Ministerial meeting is “Leveraging Sierra Leone’s Natural Resource Endowments for an Inclusive Post Covid-19 Recovery”. This meeting will focus mainly on Ministries within or directly related to the natural resources sector, namely, the Ministries of Mines and Mineral Resources; Fisheries and Marine Resources; Lands and Country Planning; and, Environment. Presentations and discussions have been framed to revolve around:

1. Effective natural resource management to sustain and support growth, including in agriculture, fisheries, land, water supply, energy and tourism
2. Adapting to climate change impacts on natural resources
3. Managing mineral resources to maximize revenues for development priorities and empowerment of the poor especially in mineral-bearing communities.

Distinguished partners,

Embedded within this complex of issues is the need for this meeting to generate greater clarity and a realistic action agenda for overcoming legal-cum-regulatory, governance-cum-accountability, data-cum-information management, and institutional capacity-cum-coordination barriers to sustainably growing the natural resources sector and deploying revenues from it to lift the majority of Sierra Leoneans out of poverty. 

I am hopeful that this meeting, like the previous ones will serve as a platform for both the Government, Development partners and other key stakeholders to provide actionable answers to these framing questions in the form of proposals and progress made around various interventions in the natural resource sector.  I firmly believe that appropriate policies and regulatory frameworks in the natural resource sector if faithfully operationalized on a sustained basis will optimize social and economic benefits for sustainable national development.

Hon Ministers, Excellencies, let me take this opportunity to congratulate Sierra Leone for signing into law the abolition of the death penalty. This is a step in right direction in respect of human dignity and the right to life, as embedded in the United Nations charter.

I wish us all a fruitful discussion as we continue to show commitment in accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Sierra Leone.

I thank you all.