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Country Program Materials
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USAID/Sierra Leone Links
USAID/Sierra
Leone Mission
www.usaid.gov/gn/sierraleone Mission Director:
Local Address:
- Quartier Cameroun
Corniche Nord
US Embassy
B.P. 603
Conakry
Guinée
Tel: 224-41-2163, 2502, 2029
Fax: 224-41-1985
From the US:
- DOS/USAID
c/o USAID/Guinée
2110 Conakry Place
Washington, D.C.
20521-2110
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USAID's Strategy in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone's program of assistance
is managed by USAID staff in Conakry, Guinea.
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Through the combined efforts of a U.N. peacekeeping mission,
the World Bank, the international community, and the Government
of Sierra Leone in demobilization and disarmament of ex-combatants,
peace has been restored, and the reintegration of ex-combatants
is nearing completion. Government authority is being slowly
reestablished throughout the country, and the peaceful, free,
and open Presidential and Parliamentary elections held in
May 2002 were an inspiration to many. Although a fragile peace
has been realized, the possibility for resumed conflict remains
a concern until the transnational region that includes Guinea's
Parrot's Beak, Liberia's Lofa County, and the Eastern Region
of Sierra Leone is stabilized.
Sierra Leone has ranked last for the past three years on
the United Nation's Human Development Index, and maternal
mortality rates are currently the highest in the world. Although
real GDP increased by 5 percent in 2001, this follows a cumulative
decline of 25 percent during 1997-99, and approximately 66
percent since 1970. The United States has several important interests at stake
in Sierra Leone. The United States is providing approximately
$300 million per year to help support the world's largest
U.N. Peacekeeping Force. It is in the U.S. interest to reinforce
the gains achieved over the past 12 to 24 months to avert
the need for future investment of this magnitude. In addition,
the United States has a humanitarian interest in preventing
a recurrence of the lawlessness and brutal violence that produced
thousands of deaths, injuries, assorted war crimes, and hundreds
of thousands of refugees. Finally, as the Department of State's
Mission Performance Plan clearly lays out, the United States
has an interest in supporting the efforts of its ally, the
United Kingdom, which has allocated considerable investment
of political and diplomatic capital, as well as its military
assistance, to stabilize the situation in Sierra Leone.
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