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SITUATION
IN LIBERIA IMPROVES AS UNITED NATIONS TROOPS PREPARE TO LEAVE:
02/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.)
-- by
Richard J. Lentz, Assistant International Editor, MaximsNews.com |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 02 September 2007 – The
situation in
Liberia
, one of the poorest countries in the world, is improving even as many U.N.
peacekeeping troops prepare to depart the country.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon stated that the current government in
Liberia
recently “made great strides in consolidating peace and promoting economic
recovery in the country.”
United Nations
peacekeeping troops under the authority of UNMIL, United Nations Mission in
Liberia
, have been keeping the peace in the country since 2003.
UNMIL were
dispatched to the country that year by Security Council Resolution 1509, after
the 1989-2003 civil war killed more than 150,000 people and displaced almost a
million.
The current
government of President Johnson-Sirleaf (who took office in 2006) is being
credited for increasing the government’s budget by almost half, implementing
programs that grew the percentage of juveniles in school by 40 percent, bringing
back a respectable human rights record, and terminating the international
sanctions on diamonds and lumber from the country.
Most importantly,
“President Johnson-Sirleaf is to be commended for the positive steps that she
has taken to foster national reconciliation and political inclusiveness in the
country,” Mr. Ban recently stated.
Despite these
improvements, Mr. Ban recently stated that the “slow process in strengthening
the security sector is a source of great concern.”
The previous
statement was in reference to the lack of proper financing and apparatus for the
Liberian National Police to enforce the rule of law throughout the country.
Mr. Ban also stated
that “these deficiencies are a major obstacle to the full deployment of the
police throughout the country.”
As well as security
concerns, ethnic tensions in the country threaten to bring back instability in
the country.
Mr. Ban again
recently commented on this situation as “the ethnic and social cleavages that
have plagued the country in the past could still resurface.”
Also, the situation
has been described as “very fragile” in the most recent Secretary-General
document on the situation in
Liberia
due to the low level of human development within the country.
According to the
most recent UN statistics,
Liberia
remains one of the poorest countries in the world with a GDP per capita of only
169 US dollars and almost half of the population is undernourished.
The economy is still
dependent on agriculture (timber products included) that comprises of more than
95 percent of all exports from the country.
These conditions
remain despite the fact that the Liberian economic growth rate is almost 8
percent for this year.
Other potential
factors that could destabilize the country are high unemployment within the
country, increased incidents of violent crime, the possibility of ex-militia
members taking up arms again, and underdeveloped judicial agencies.
Despite these
concerns, the United Nations is planning on reducing the number of peacekeeping
troops in the country from over 14,000 today to under 10,000 in three years
time.
A recent
Secretary-General report stated that “sufficient has been made in the
implementation of the mission’s mandate and in stabilizing the security
situation in the country to allow for further adjustments to be made to the
military and police components of UNMIL.”
However, these
reductions will be watched very closely as to not “put at risk the peace we
have all worked so hard to achieve” according to Special Representative of the
Secretary General Alan Doss.
To make sure that
stability is maintained, the United Nations has already assisted in the creation
of a 3,500 strong Liberian National Police agency as of last month.
Also, within two
years, a 500 member Quick Reaction Unit (an elite police force) should be
created with assistance from the United Nations.
However, it has been
determined that “overall the country has made significant progress to enable
the Secretary-general to make to recommended adjustments,” Mr. Doss stated
last week.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
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