Sierra Leone’s Minister of foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura has been selected to serve in the African Union Ministerial Committee on Candidatures for the 2009-2010 along side her colleague Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. The Ministerial Committee will be responsible to vet all potential candidates and recommend to the Summit of Heads of State for all positions and appointments within the African Union.
In her acceptance note on behalf of the government of Sierra Leone, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura expressed appreciation to the Permanent representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the confidence reposed in Sierra Leone to serve in the African Union Secretariat. She noted that such an honour cannot be divorced from sierra Leone holding peaceful, democratic elections during the past two years, but also as a result of the political tolerance His Excellency President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma is promoting in the country by working with all actors across the political spectrum and stakeholders in the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and good governance in Sierra Leone.
In a similar development, the Honourable Minister has also been appointed to serve as one of the five members of the Advisory Board Member of the United Nations Peacekeeping Training Programme (UNITAR). In a letter dated May 5 this year and signed by His Excellency Carlos Lopez, the United Nations Under Secretary-General who is also the Executive Director of UNITAR indicated that the appointment of Foreign Affairs Minister Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura was as a result of “her extensive expertise in the field of peacekeeping and strong dynamics in peace operations”.
In her letter of acceptance, the Minister expressed appreciation for the singular honour bestowed upon her to serve in such an esteemed body, noting that her appointment is yet another manifestation of the great strides Sierra Leone is making in the promotion of democracy and good governance.
Since its inception in 1965 as an autonomous body of the United Nations, UNITAR continues to provide expertise to the growing demand of Member States of the United Nations for training for capacity development in the areas of the environment, peace, security and diplomacy, and good governance.
The primary purpose of the UNITAR Advisory Board is to provide strategic and technical guidance as well as adequate support to Member states in ensuring that it responds to the real need to develop the capacity of peacekeepers and to promote and advocate widely the products of the UNITAR/PTP to all stakeholders (donors, UN country members, academic and research institutions.
The Advisory Board therefore serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of planned and potential activities, exchange of information, identification of needs and areas for further developments and the sharing of experience and knowledge. Ultimately, the Advisory Board provides technical and critical analysis of activities of the UNITAR to ensure the respect of quality standards in compliance with the UNITAR mandate and international standards.
Prior to her appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone in 2007, Mrs. Bangura served as Chief of Civil Affairs at the United Nations Mission in Liberia overseeing 17 government Ministries and over 30 government agencies with a staff of 95. Her appointment has therefore been acclaimed both locally and internationally as she would be able to provide strategic thinking in the furtherance of UNITAR’s continued efforts in promoting world peace and security, as well as Sierra Leone’s move to become a troop contributing country to the United Nations Peacekeeping efforts. UNITAR is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and the current Chairman of the Board is French-born Mr. Jean Marie Guehenno, who was the Under-Secretary General of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) of the United Nations.
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