By Membui Emmanuel, Director, Media & Strategic Communications

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 15th November, 2021 launched the populirisation of the First ever National Reporting Mechanism to International Treaty Bodies organized in collaboration with UNDP to assist Government meet its treaty reporting obligations.

The Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Prince E. O Cole in his welcoming address said,  Sierra Leone being a signatory to many International human rights treaties such as the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the Convention on the right of the Child, the Convention of all forms of racial discrimination, among others, made it obligational to us as a nation to periodically submit our reports to treaty bodies to ascertain the level of compliance under such treaties.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Professor David John Francis in his keynotes address registered his profound appreciation on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone  to the directorate of Legal  Affairs and ECOTEC in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who worked hard to produce the National Reporting Mechanism to International treaty Bodies, which he said will enable Sierra Leone to clear all backlogs on reporting, but to also ensure that Sierra Leone will no longer default on such reporting obligations as reliable partners on the international stage with a clear understanding of our foreign policy objectives as stated in section 10, with specific reference to paragraph (d) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No.6 of 1991.

“Sierra Leone cannot project its International visibility as a credible and respectable member of the international community if we do not fulfill our international obligations ” He stated.

Professor Francis said Sierra Leone  being a credible, respectable and rebranded nation is poised to become the envy of all with standard practice that can be emulated by all as we take the Country back to the glory days, when the rest of the sub-region would look up to our Country for the best in almost everything.

“The key reporting obligation of Sierra Leone is the universal periodic review that takes the form of a 4 year reporting cycle on the state of human rights in the Country. This he said  was the 4th reporting cycle under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the key aim according to him was to guide and strengthen the reporting functions of the state to international treaty bodies.

He pledged the Commitment of the Government to fully support the implementation of the Mechanism. In attendance was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Madam Mamadi Gobeh Kamara, development partners, stakeholders and staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.