Peace, as the Ottawa Charter amply pointed
out, is the first precondition for health. Freedom from violence, feeling safe,
as well as peace of mind, are essential prerequisites for our wellbeing. No
nation knows this as well, perhaps, as Sierra Leone, especially on the day that
Charles Taylor has been found guilty of war crimes and of providing the means
to foment the conflict in Sierra Leone.
In the ten years since the end of that ten-year
conflict, I have met many Sierra Leoneans, and although they all acknowledge
the problems facing reconstruction, few venture any thoughts about the conflict
itself. Too painful, no doubt. And one of the phone calls during that war that remains
seared in my mind was one from a Sierra Leonean graduate of ours, who phoned me
to ask for help – she was surrounded by rebel forces and didn’t know what to
do. I was helpless to offer any aid, and for years afterwards I wondered what
had happened to her, before hearing that she had survived.
We now are supporting some of the
reconstruction efforts by enabling health promotion professionals to access our
Masters course run in The Gambia: 16 so far.
Peace was lost in Sierra Leone in 1991 when
soldiers from the Revolutionary United Front, backed, it was argued, by the
Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, who overthrew the President of Sierra Leone, Joseph
Momoh. The National Provisional Ruling
Council under Valentine Strasser, a 25-year-old army Captain lasted until 1996
when this too fell part. In the meantime the RUF carried out murder, rape,
mutilation (the horrifying practice of cutting off the arms of victims for example),
and recruiting child soldiers. 50,000 people are estimated to have died in the
decade of conflict.
Whilst Taylor’s trial has gained a lot of
publicity in the West, Sierra Leoneans are more distanced from it, possibly as
the proceedings have been in The Hague.
The six million people of one of the poorest countries in the world are
as concerned about simply making a living. The forthcoming presidential
elections are also on people’s minds.
Many people in the UK know of Sierra Leone
through Tony Blair’s intervention to try to stop the conflict, and also because
of the films about ‘blood diamonds’. Many Africans feel that these natural
resources lead to loss of peace; whilst in Zambia recently, colleagues there
hoped that oil would not be found,
as they know what conflicts this could lead to. In Sierra Leone, two companies,
London Mining and African Minerals, are mining iron ore
and magnetite. This could lead to the creation of many jobs, whilst revenue
from royalties and taxation could do much to reverse the country’s fortunes.
However, tensions have already risen, with one woman killed and a number
injured in the last fortnight when police intervened between people and the
mining companies. Reports suggest that there were no lights in the hospital that
the injured were taken to and there was no fuel for the generator. The IMF
meanwhile, sees the economy as being in good shape, with a predicted 34.9%
economic growth this year. This demonstrates how ‘peace’ and ‘progress’ are
seen so differently from different vantage points, and how peace, once lost,
takes so long to recover.
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