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United
Nations Conference On Disarmament, Demobilization,
Reintegration (DDR) and Stability In Africa.
By Marian Samu
Tuesday,
21st June, 2005: The President, Alhaji Dr.
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, on Tuesday 21st June 2005
formally opened a three-day international conference
on Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration
(DDR) and Stability in Africa organized by the
United Nations and hosted by Sierra Leone. The
conference which was held at the Miatta Conference
Centre in Freetown attracted delegates from seventeen
countries in Africa and the world, and especially
countries in post-conflict transitions who were
at the conference to share experiences with each
other and note the lessons learnt from their various
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
and peace processes.
The
opening ceremony was co-chaired by Mr. Namanga
Ngongi from the United Nations Office of the Special
Adviser on African Affairs and Mr. Momodu Koroma,
Sierra Leone's Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation. Dr Saran Daraba Kaba
from the Republic of Guinea also delivered a message
to the participants of the conference on behalf
of civil society and women and children.
In
his opening statement, President Kabbah noted
that the timing and theme of the conference were
very significant for the African continent for
several reasons. Africa, he said, has experienced
and is still enduring too many gruesome conflicts
and senseless acts of violence. He said that in
the last 2-3 decades, the West African sub-region
has been in turmoil with Sierra Leone, together
with Liberia, Guinea Bissau and La Cote d' Ivoire
bearing the brunt of instability. Similar conflicts
have also engulfed some countries in East, Central
and Southern Africa, thus making the continent
unsafe from within and without. These conflicts,
whether they are ethnic, civil or inter-state
wars, have dehumanized, killed and displaced people
and have led to gross abuse and violation of human
rights.
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