The United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL)’s Human Rights and Rule of Law section will today commence a two-day consultative workshop for officials from government ministries and agencies on the findings and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) report.
The workshop, which will be held at UNIOSIL’s Mammy Yoko headquarters’ staff club, will see 40 people participating.
Each ministry or agency will be expected to designate two representatives at a senior policy level who will act as focal points and will form the basis for future consultations between the UN and the government on the TRC.
This workshop is expected to create the opportunity for the focal points to have a comprehensive understanding of the findings and recommendations of the TRC, what responsibilities are assigned to their respective ministries or institutions and enable them to explore avenues for the full implementation of the recommendation addressed to them.
It will be recalled that the Human Rights and Rule of Law section has already been involved in the dissemination of the report and has so far conducted a number of sensitization sessions for local government officials and civil society groups in all of the 149 chiefdoms in Sierra Leone.
Notwithstanding these efforts, there still remain gaps to be filled in terms of the implementation of most of the key recommendations addressed to specific government ministries or agencies.
Taking inspiration from the mandate of UNIOSIL which is to assist state institutions in the implementation of the TRC recommendations, it is imperative that the concerned government ministries or agencies are sensitized on specific recommendations relevant to their respective mandates and their capacities enhanced to facilitate the implementation of these recommendations.