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afrol News, 11 November - According to new information, Sierra Leone can already show to substantial progress made in recovering from its ten-year civil war. In its attempts to extend this progress, the country's government is now seeking more international support. Finally, the war-ravaged country firmly placed at the bottom of the UN's human development index can show to positive statistics. School enrolment is already up by 57 percent this year, with 240,000 more children attending school and 30 percent more students sitting for the national primary school education examination, according to the UN development agency, UNDP. Other indicators are also showing positive trends, and the government wants to stick to the momentum. In this weeks meeting (13-14 November) at the World Banks European Office in Paris, the so-called Consultative Group for Sierra Leone; including international agencies and donor governments, UNDP, the World Bank and the Sierra Leonean government will discuss future strategies for the country. This is to be followed by a business forum organised by the World Bank to encourage private sector interest in trade and investment, UNDP informs. It is hoped the meeting will promote "a dialogue between the government and its partners on post-conflict policies for security, governance and anti-corruption action, public sector reform, private sector promotion, control of diamond resources and aid coordination," the agency states. Although progress is made, in Sierra Leone today, more than 80 percent of the population are afflicted by poverty, and other related repercussions of the war, which haunted the country for a decade. - One of the key challenges for the government is to build on the substantial support that donors have given for humanitarian relief in recent years, the UN agency says. It also wants to "open the door for development aid, as well as backing for trade access and continued debt relief," adds Alan Doss, UNDP Resident Representative in Sierra Leone. The disarmament programme completed earlier this year, and the following peace-keeping operation (the UN's largest such operation ever), have improved the security conditions significantly, and authority is much restored on behalf of the government. It has also benefited the reported recovery of Sierra Leonean economy, which, according to UNDP "continues to improve, and is expected to grow by six to seven per cent this year." Sound fiscal and monetary policies had further resulted in negative inflation in the first part of the year and exports were beginning to rebound. The country had made "such good economic progress" (UNDP) that in March it reached the so-called Highly Indebted Poor Counties (HIPC) Initiative decision point, which will provide a highly needed debt relief. According to the agency, "UNDP, along with other UN, bilateral and multilateral agencies, is already assisting the government and its national partners in tackling some of the most pressing problems of recovery, governance and poverty reduction." This was including assistance in re-building infrastructure, re-integration of ex-combatants and people displaced by the war, rehabilitation of police and judicial facilities and technical assistance in formulating national poverty strategies.
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