Washington — America applauds progress by the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone in building a durable peace in the once war-torn West African nation, says U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice.

“We’ve come a long way in the United Nations’ ability to help countries and regions resolve, recover from and rebuild after conflict,” Rice said February 9. She also commended the Sierra Leonean government for confronting corruption, enhancing respect for human rights and strengthening the rule of law.

Rice, the U.S. permanent representative to the international body, talked with reporters following a U.N. Security Council briefing from Germany’s Michael von der Schulenburg, the secretary-general’s executive representative for the U.N. Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL). Rice said the mission’s success makes it “a new instrument for the United Nations to assist post-conflict countries as they make the critical transition from insecurity and violence to lasting peace.”

The road to peace and stability in Sierra Leone was never an easy one. Fighting between the Revolutionary United Front and the government from 1991 to 2002 claimed tens of thousands of lives, while thousands more were maimed by the rebel forces’ practice of amputating limbs of innocent civilians. More than 2 million Sierra Leoneans — one-third of the population — fled the violence and were displaced during the conflict.

Both sides in the civil war became infamous for their use of child soldiers, as depicted in Ishmael Beah’s 2007 memoir A Long Way Gone. (See “Former Child Soldier a Beacon of Hope to Conflict Survivors“)

U.N. peacekeepers operated in the country until 2006. Today, the civilian UNIPSIL mission works with the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council to help consolidate the peace and restore democracy in Sierra Leone.

Rice praised Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma for taking steps to confront corruption, enhance respect for human rights, and strengthen the rule of law. She also cited the importance of the Peacebuilding Commission in supporting the government’s reform efforts, as well as U.N. Radio, which helped connect Sierra Leoneans and inform them about elections, women’s rights, health concerns and other issues.

“The type of office that UNIPSIL represents is a new instrument for the United Nations to assist post-conflict countries as they make the critical transition from insecurity and violence to lasting peace,” Rice said. “We will need to follow its progress … to ensure that as member states we give the necessary support to help its efforts succeed.”

Rice urged nations to join the United States in supporting the UNIPSIL mission. She cited concerns that youth unemployment, poverty and illicit drugs threaten to unravel progress in the country, which remains among the poorest in the world, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

“Sierra Leone reminds us not only of the difficulties of post-conflict transitions but also of the promise of the United Nations and the broader international community to assist a country and its people to build a better future,” Rice said.