Sierra Leone
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Project no. 1
Former Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, who led the United Nations force in Rwanda, is to lead a mission in Sierra Leone to examine the living conditions of children there,
In his capacity as special adviser to Maria Minna of Canada's International Cooperation Ministry, who oversees Canada's programs for children in war zones, Dallaire is to report on the long-term impacts of civil war on youth.
The 54-year-old general left the Canadian armed forces 15 months before reaching retirement age because he was devastated by the failure of the 1994 UN mission in Rwanda, which failed to stem the genocide there that took the lives of nearly one million people.
Project no. 2
The United Nations Security Council has extended a global ban on exports of black-market diamonds from Sierra Leone. A unanimous vote lengthening the ban to the beginning of next November voiced the Council's continued concern at the role which the trade in illicit gems had played in financing Sierra Leone's civil war.
The council welcomed what it called the significant progress in peace efforts, the disarmament programme and the government's moves to extend its authority over the diamond-producing areas. The UN says more than 37-thousand combatants on all sides in the conflict have surrendered their weapons since a ceasefire was signed late last year.
Former Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, who led the United Nations force in Rwanda, is to lead a mission in Sierra Leone to examine the living conditions of children there,
In his capacity as special adviser to Maria Minna of Canada's International Cooperation Ministry, who oversees Canada's programs for children in war zones, Dallaire is to report on the long-term impacts of civil war on youth.
The 54-year-old general left the Canadian armed forces 15 months before reaching retirement age because he was devastated by the failure of the 1994 UN mission in Rwanda, which failed to stem the genocide there that took the lives of nearly one million people.
Project no. 2
The United Nations Security Council has extended a global ban on exports of black-market diamonds from Sierra Leone. A unanimous vote lengthening the ban to the beginning of next November voiced the Council's continued concern at the role which the trade in illicit gems had played in financing Sierra Leone's civil war.
The council welcomed what it called the significant progress in peace efforts, the disarmament programme and the government's moves to extend its authority over the diamond-producing areas. The UN says more than 37-thousand combatants on all sides in the conflict have surrendered their weapons since a ceasefire was signed late last year.
