By Millicent Senava Mannah
One of the Civil Society Organizations operating in the country, the Civil and Peace Service, has on the 28th January 2022, convened a Press Conference geared towards reflecting on the twenty years of peace after the civil conflict in Sierra Leone alongside what they and their peace partners have been doing, the hallmarks they have made as a civil peace network and how they can bring new ideas onboard that will be rolled out together with their partners and beneficiaries. The Press Conference took place at the Kona Lodge on King Street in the West End of Freetown.
National Coordinator of Bread for the World/ Civil Peace Service, Adenike Cole, explained how as a peace awareness sharing entity they are reflecting on the journey of attaining peace taking into consideration, alongside their donors and partner organizations the post-war 20 years period since the end of the prolonged civil conflict.
She disclosed that the war lasted for 11 years and was declared over on the 18th January, 2002 underscoring how, as a Civil Society Organization, they are looking at related issues bordering on human rights as a way of taking into account the very issues that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) highlighted as causes that ignited the bloody and protracted war.
Madam Adenike highlighted injustice, corruption, inequality and lack of human rights among others as some of the overarching causes of the war.
“Few recommendations were made to tackle those debilitating issues which are protection of human rights, promoting good governance and addressing issues that are pertinent to women and girls.” Madam Adenike said.
“I am amplifying the voice of the Chairman of Amputees and War Wounded, Mohamed Tarawalie, whose concerns are to set a day aside to commemorate the end of the war in Sierra Leone, to help people with disability to become people of ability and provide funds for their children to benefit from scholarships up to university level,” she stated.
She noted that, as a Peace Network, they will enhance their peace education drive targeting the populace as a means of promoting and making the ordinary person enjoy justice and as well advocate for the separation of the Ministry of Justice from that of the Attorney General’s Office.
The Focal Person of the Civil Peace Service Network, Ibrahim A. Conteh, who is also a representative from an organization known as Future in our Hands, explained that their organization is engaged in various community activities and in highlighting issues relating to the future development of children and the youth.
He furthered that they have also been participating on issues related to peace in the country revealing how they embarked on a peace tournament with the avowed aim of reconciling families and availing skills training opportunities that are meant for engaging the minds of young people in various districts within the country.
Discussions during the Press engagement also bordered around the processes of land acquisition in the country with majority recommending that it should be done in legal ways as in the past human rights have been violated and some even killed in land disputes.
A question and answer session climaxed the briefing after salient contributions on the importance of maintaining and consolidating peace in the country.
