By Morlai Sesay
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, has, in a correspondence dated Thursday, the 25th of January 2024, announced that the United States government, through the United States Agency for International Development, plans to invest $1.5 million to support Sierra Leone’s Agreement for National Unity.
According to the United States Ambassador, democracy is not just a lofty ideal. It is the cornerstone of a free, fair, and prosperous society in a democratic State.
“The United States appreciates that the Government of Sierra Leone and opposition leaders have worked together to safeguard and to expand democracy, including through the historic Agreement for National Unity, which provides a pathway towards electoral reform and inter-party dialogue,” Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield continued. “But more progress is necessary.”
Through this investment, the United States, according to the press statement, will support the work of the Electoral Reform Committee by:
Providing technical assistance to strengthen the credibility and sustainability of the electoral reforms; Engaging the citizens of Sierra Leone to strengthen awareness, buy-in, and ownership of the electoral review process; Funding international and Sierra Leonean legal analysts to support Parliament and political parties in implementing recommendations for electoral reform proposed in the final report by the Committee on Electoral Systems and Management Bodies.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield affirmed, “We hope that technical, legal, and civil society assistance will help Sierra Leone model democracy in a moment that so desperately calls for it. "
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