Sierra Leone at Risk of Renewed Instability

30 September 2008

As the UN prepares to withdraw its peacekeeping mission from Sierra Leone this week, the country remains at risk of renewed instability, says a new Chatham House paper.

One year after landmark elections in Sierra Leone put the opposition All People's Congress Party (APC) in power, the country remains the poorest in the world, made worse by high oil prices, global food shortages and the burgeoning drugs trade.

'Sierra Leone a Year after Elections' argues that poverty, unemployment, corruption and a history of violence leaves the country especially vulnerable.

Further, a new threat is growing in the form of South American drug cartels seeking to use Sierra Leone and other West African countries as an access route to Europe. West Africa has within recent months become the principle route for cocaine into Europe.

The report's author, Tom Cargill, argues that whilst there are good signs the government is serious about reform, it will need to show greater leadership and confidence to both voters and donors if the country is to develop and prosper.

The challenges to the year-old government of Sierra Leone are massive as it struggles against multiple competing priorities, with limited assistance from the international community.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The UN mission that led Sierra Leone out of civil war in 2002 ends on 30 September 2008.

Read the briefing paper: Sierra Leone a Year after Elections: Still in the Balance

Tom Cargill is Assistant Head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House

Tom Cargill is available for interview.

Contact:

Nicola Norton
Media Relations Manager
+44 (0) 20 7957 5739
+44 (0) 7917 757 528
nnorton@chathamhouse.org.uk

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