Sierra Leone Presents Prevention-Focused Peacebuilding Approach at UNGA81

Sierra Leone has presented its evolving peacebuilding model at a high-level ministerial side event held during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Hawa Sally Samai, Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, represented Sierra Leone at the 25 September 2026 event at the African Union Mission in New York.

Focus on national peace infrastructures

The event, titled “African Leadership and Partnerships for Prevention and Peacebuilding: Advancing National Peace Infrastructures,” examined ways African countries can strengthen institutions that prevent disputes and grievances from escalating.

It was convened by Egypt and Kenya in collaboration with the United Nations Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office and the African Union. Representatives from African governments, the United Nations, the Peacebuilding Fund, Open Society Foundations and other development partners also took part.

Discussions considered how African-led peacebuilding mechanisms could respond to tensions at an early stage. Participants also examined how the outcomes of the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review could be converted into practical national interventions through partnerships and sustainable financing.

Sierra Leone’s shift toward prevention

Samai said Sierra Leone’s peacebuilding priorities have moved from the immediate demands of post-war reconstruction toward preventing future instability. The country’s earlier efforts included reconciliation, rebuilding state institutions, democratic governance, human rights and restoring confidence among communities affected by conflict.

She said the current approach places greater emphasis on identifying grievances, social pressures and emerging challenges before they develop into wider conflict. According to Samai, effective prevention requires structures operating both nationally and within communities, where tensions and complaints often first appear.

Samai also highlighted the role of women, young people, traditional authorities and civil society organisations in recognising early warning signs. Their direct links with communities, she said, position them to help identify pressures that may otherwise go unnoticed by national institutions.

Her remarks reflected Sierra Leone’s experience more than two decades after the end of its civil war. The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund has supported peacebuilding initiatives in the country since 2007, including work related to reconciliation, governance, human rights, social cohesion, conflict prevention and resolution, and the participation and empowerment of women and young people.

Call for sustained financing

Samai urged development partners to support institutions and capacities that can continue operating after individual projects and funding arrangements end. She called for financing that is predictable and flexible enough to support long-term national prevention priorities rather than only short-term interventions.

She also stressed that international assistance should reinforce, not replace, national responsibility for maintaining peace.

“Peacebuilding works when it is nationally owned but internationally supported,” Samai said.

In her concluding appeal, she said Sierra Leone was seeking support to sustain the peace its citizens had built.

“We are not asking you to build peace for Sierra Leone. Sierra Leoneans have built the peace. We are asking you to help us sustain it,” she said.

The side event placed Sierra Leone’s prevention-focused approach within a broader discussion about African leadership, national peace infrastructures and the partnerships needed to maintain peace over the long term.