SPEAKER Mr Ian Hughes

EVENT On the ocassion of HM Queen Elizabeth II 83rd birthday

DATE 15/04/2009

Remarks by the British High Commissioner at the celebration of the 83rd birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday 7 April 2009

Good evening everyone and welcome to this celebration of the 83rd birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

It is a very great honour for me to represent Her Majesty here in Sierra Leone. I am conscious that I join illustrious company. Previous High Commissioners have all been servants of their country of great repute.Peter Penfold, Allan Jones, John Mitchener, Sarah MacIntosh and Diane Corner have all been friends as well as colleagues. I hope that I will be able to make a contribution to Sierra Leone in equal measure to theirs.

Teresa and I have been here only seven short weeks. But even in that brief time we have discovered how special this country is and how warm are its people. We have seen Sierra Leone's beauty. We have tasted its sensational food. We have walked on its spectacular beaches. We are happy to be here.

I should add at the outset that in addition to spectacular beaches,Sierra Leone has a stellar UK Country Team. I would like to pay homage to them for the imagination, dedication and sheer hard work they bring to their work here. Let me just mention some of them:

• Dominic O'Neill and the DfID team, helping Sierra Leone to deal with its many social, economic and structural problems;
• Col Hugh Blackman and the IMATT team, whose development of the professionalism and capability of RSLAF has been recognised recently by UN agreement to accept an RSLAF company into the international Peace Keeping effort in Darfur;
• Nicola Miles and the Consular team, who look after the UK community here and facilitate travel to London for Sierra Leoneans;
• June Rollinson and the British Council, whose building has been a feature of Freetown's skyline and whose cultural work has been a feature of Sierra Leone's literary, artistic and education scene since before even I was born;
• And Peter Viner, who leads the UK's Justice Sector Development Programme.

I've not mentioned everyone: that would take too long. But to each and every member of the UK Country Team I extend my thanks on behalf of the UK and of Sierra Leone for their contribution to the partnership that our two countries share.

For Sierra Leone and UK have shared history and a strong partnership that has endured through good times and bad times. The roots of our relationship run deep, but it is not stuck in the past. It has constantly renewed itself, looked forward and stayed relevant and fresh. And it will continue to evolve as circumstances change and new challenges arise.

You and I, everyone here, we are the flesh and blood of that relationship.We are its nerves and sinews. Together we must build on the success of the past and prepare for the challenges of the future. For the future is an uncertain place. The potential that we all see in Sierra Leone's fertile land, its generous mineral resources and its young, vibrant people cannot guarantee success, as recent history has shown.

Last week, leaders of the G20 group of nations met in London to agree how they were going to work together to deal with the global economic crisis that buffets every country, saps ever economy and affects every citizen. We are all pleased that those heads of state and government committed themselves to restoring confidence, to rebuild economic growth, to better regulating financial systems and markets and to strengthening the international financial institutions.

Fantastic sums of money are to be deployed. I cannot imagine what a trillion of anything looks like. But within all the rhetoric, within all the hoopla, the most important announcement has been the G20 commitment to meeting Millennium Development Goals. And within all the talk of resources and stimulus packages, there is news that $50bn of new money has been set aside specifically to help low income countries like Sierra Leone that will be hit hard by the effects of a crisis that they had no part in bringing about.

Now we all know that pledging money is easy. Paying up is a lot harder, particularly at this time of declining government revenues everywhere. So I am pleased that Ivan Lewis, British Minister for Development in Africa, came to Sierra Leone last week to personally reaffirm to President Koroma and his cabinet Gordon Brown's determination not to retreat from commitments to the developing world, to Africa and to Sierra Leone. To underline that message, Mr Lewis announced £28m of new development assistance, £16m for reproductive and child health, £10m for budgetary support and £2m for the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Dominic O'Neill and his DfID team will be working harder than ever to make sure that every pound that they have been given is put to good use, that every project that they support is a sound recipient of financial support. For every pound that they have to spend here comes from the pockets of British taxpayers who expect and deserve nothing less of us than this. So I welcome President Koroma's statements recently that he rededicates himself and his government to deliver on his National Anti-Poverty Strategy and the Agenda for Change. The UK Country Team here in Freetown looks forward to supporting the President and his team as they make reality their vision of a peaceful, prosperous Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone has come a long way in the past few years: strengthening its democracy, acting as an example to the region and the whole of Africa in delivering three sets of free,fair and peaceful elections in the space of 18 months. Any politician worth his salt will know that democracy is an easy word to say, but a difficult concept to deliver.

I applaud Sierra Leone's determined work to rebuilding institutions that have been severely weakened even before the destruction of the war. I witnessed the signing last week of the joint communique between Sierra Leone's two largest parties. We all welcome their public expression of determination to work together to strengthen the rule the rule of law,to support freedom of expression and to reinforce the impartiality of the national institutions that underpin democracy and make it work. We wish them well in this important task, and stand ready to help where we properly can.

It is clear that for Sierra Leone, success has been built on partnership:

• Partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone and its people.
• Partnership between politicians and political parties of sometimes divergent opinions but always common determination to create a better, safer Sierra Leone.
• Partnership between Sierra Leone and the range of its friends who form the international donor community.

Just how far this country has come should not be forgotten. But nor can we disguise how far there is still to go. The next few years will be crucial to consolidating and building on the progress of the past 7years.

As I look around, I see many faces that are new to me. Teresa and I would like to welcome you all here Runnymede, but I suspect that you know this house better than we do at present. So we hope that instead, you will welcome us among you, that you will continue to help us to understand this fascinating and complicated country. And that you will work with me, as you have with my predecessors, in the work that is so important to us all, namely helping Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans to achieve the safer, more prosperous future that they need and deserve.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I offer you a toast: God Save the Queen.

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