By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Irish Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Claire Buckley, was briefed by the Executive Secretary and senior staff of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC) about the Commission’s activities and plans and discussed possible areas of collaboration.
In her overview, the Executive Secretary of the ICPNC, Hawa Samai, explained that the said Commission’s mandate is to promote peace and cohesion, including examining the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Bintumani 3 conference, which are vital in fostering national cohesion.
She informed the Ambassador about the ICPNC’s three-year strategic plan, which, when finalized, will serve as the blueprint for the Commission’s activities. She mentioned that they were working on an election preparedness programme to cover the pre-, during and post-elections period. She added that the TRC recommendations would be prioritized and incorporated into the five thematic pillars in the strategic plan.
According to Madam Samai, a key component of the Elections Preparedness Programme is the setting up of a Situation Room, which will require, among others, the training and deployment of peace monitors all over the country to provide regular updates on the situation on the ground.
She said the Commission would coordinate its activities with EMBs, including NEC, PPRC and other existing institutions with a similar mandate, to avoid duplications of interventions.
The Irish Ambassador welcomed the work done so far by the Commission as well as their plans (as outlined in the strategic plan) to promote peace and reconciliation and prioritizing of gender issues and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, in all their interventions. She also expressed key interest in the Commission’s strategic planning document and what is its roles and the institution’s partnership collaborations for the elections will be. With her Governance advisor, Josephus J. Eillie, they promised to further engage the Commission’s work.
