I think we all agree that its work can do much to promote the common values that bind its members and that it can play an important role in pursuing development, peace and security for all its people.

I am particularly encouraged by the participation of young Canadians, gathered with the hope, promise and confidence that are characteristic of your generation, in discussing and exchanging ideas about the Commonwealth and about the future.

Half a world away in another Commonwealth country, young people like yourselves live a different -- and vastly more difficult -- reality. Hope, promise and confidence are not notions that readily come to mind when contemplating their future.

For the past decade, the brutality and suffering in Sierra Leone have trampled their aspirations along with the dreams of the rest of that country's desperate people.

The murder of UN peacekeepers and the capture of others last week is but the latest affront to the beleaguered peace process.

This incident is intolerable. Canadians have condemned it in the strongest possible terms. We have called for the immediate release of the remaining hostages, and we are working closely with others at the Security Council to this end.

I have also reiterated a message I delivered personally to Foday Sankoh, the leader of the rebel RUF [Revolutionary United Front], two weeks ago, to strictly abide by all the terms of the Lomé Peace Agreement.

The action of the rebel forces is not only unacceptable, it is symptomatic of the changing nature, the evolving risks and the emerging challenges of armed conflict that plague this new century.

These are threats that, at their most basic, endanger human security on an unparalleled scale.

In Sierra Leone, the conflict is fought not in isolated battle zones across national borders but in the country itself, directly on city streets and in farmers' fields; the combatants are often children, coerced or co-opted into violence; the targets are not military but civilian; the tools of war -- small arms, light military weapons and landmines -- overwhelmingly injure and kill ordinary people; and the funds that fuel violence are derived from the new war economies where the country's wealth is subverted by an unscrupulous alliance between warlords and commercial interest.

In Sierra Leone, the result of all of this -- as in other armed conflicts of our time -- is that innocent civilians suffer most. The statistics are startling. For the victims of war, the reality is appalling.

This was all too evident in the desperate faces, the hollow voices and the disfigured bodies of the people I met during my visit to Sierra Leone last week.

I was accompanied by David Pratt, who, as my special envoy, has done so much to bring this horrific conflict to our attention while working hard to propose practical ways for Canadians to help.

And help we must. Canada's human security agenda is about putting people -- their rights, safety and lives -- first in our foreign policy.

It is an approach that animated the campaign to ban landmines, our efforts to create the International Criminal Court, our actions to advance the protection of civilians in armed conflict into the work of the Security Council, and our initiatives to address the plight of war-affected children and the proliferation and abuse of small arms.

It is the motive behind Canada's engagement in Sierra Leone. We have been working multilaterally and bilaterally to promote sustainable peace.

A lasting solution for Sierra Leone is possible only with the sustained involvement of the international community. This means concerted multilateral action to support the peace process and to build the foundations for a stable society. Canada has supported these efforts.

Since 1997, the countries of the region, in particular Nigeria and Ghana, have worked to restore constitutional rule through ECOMOG, a regional peacekeeping force. They have done this at great expense in terms of human life and scarce financial resources.

Canada provided assistance to this operation through the Commonwealth. However, efforts to secure peace in Sierra Leone are clearly not a burden ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] could or should carry alone. It is a collective task for which we all share responsibility.

That is why following the signing of the Lomé Peace Agreement, in July 1999, Canada worked at the Security Council for the deployment of a large UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL, to help implement the peace accord. We also insisted on, and succeeded in, explicitly including the protection of civilians in the mission's mandate -- a first for UN peacekeeping.

The current situation makes clear that the process of bringing peace is not easy, quick or without risk. However, it is essential that we resolve this crisis and re-establish the authority of the UN and UNAMSIL, not only for the sake of peace in Sierra Leone but for the credibility of UN peace operations throughout the world.

These efforts to establish peace need to be complemented by international attention and action to the economic forces that feed war. To that end, Partnership Africa Canada, with the support of the Canadian government, has produced a groundbreaking report, The Heart of the Matter, that focuses on the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone and its impact on conflict there and in the region.

In co-operation with others, Canada is now exploring what can be done to ensure that Sierra Leone's diamond wealth is used to increase rather than diminish the security and development of its population. Our experience in Angola, where Canada has taken the lead in strengthening UN sanctions on the illicit trade in oil, diamonds and weapons, might be useful in this regard.

Sierra Leone also provides further strong evidence for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which would act as a deterrent and remove any possibility of impunity or safe haven for individuals suspected of having committed crimes against humanity.

Canada's bilateral actions are aimed at complementing these international activities.

I have mentioned the efforts of David Pratt, who has worked so tirelessly -- and to such positive effect -- in raising awareness and pressing for action.

Since December 1998, Canada has committed nearly $12 million to support peace in Sierra Leone. Our focus has been on humanitarian assistance, food aid, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration activities and a variety of peacebuilding programs, including our participation in the Commonwealth police task force project, assistance to the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, and the establishment of free media.

These efforts will continue. For example, Canada is currently helping to establish a National Commission on Children in Sierra Leone, composed of civil society organizations and government representatives, which will focus its efforts on the most vulnerable of the victims of the war.

Indeed, addressing the plight of war-affected youth is key to prospects for lasting peace in Sierra Leone. Over half the population of Sierra Leone is under 18 -- an entire generation that has known nothing but war. Sustained attention to their concerns, like the concerns of war-affected youth in all conflicts, is therefore indispensable.

That was the motive for the West African Conference on War-Affected Children in Accra, Ghana, which I co-chaired with my Ghanaian counterpart, Foreign Minister Ghebo, just prior to my visit to Freetown.

The conference set out a series of practical, concrete actions that West African countries, with the support of others, can undertake to deal with the impact of war on children, to help reintegrate war-affected youth into society -- especially through education, and to prevent the involvement of children in conflict in the future.

The results of the Accra conference -- the first of its kind -- will be integrated into the Winnipeg International Conference on War-Affected Children this September. This conference will bring together like-minded governments, international agencies and civil society in an effort to develop a global plan of action.

Over two centuries ago, Halifax served as a halfway stop for many of those who, fleeing oppression, eventually made Sierra Leone their home. The connection between Canada and Sierra Leone was thereby established.

These links have been sustained through our membership in the Commonwealth. Last week in London, I attended the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting, where we discussed, among other things, how to continue our longstanding support for the peace process.

But perhaps more than any other organization, the strength of the Commonwealth, and the effectiveness of its actions, lies in the direct connections between its people.

Your presence, in such large numbers, is testimony to this reality. I am very encouraged, but not surprised, to see so many friends and supporters of Sierra Leone with us tonight, people who have given generously of their time and money in the struggle to bring a measure of peace and security to the people of that country.

This is a reflection of Canadian generosity. This is an example of the human security agenda in action.

Thank you.

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Last Updated: 2006-10-30	Top of Page	Important Notices