By Augustine Bamie Anthony, MOICE
President Julius Maada Bio has urged the international community to recognize that peace and development are inseparable, warning that poverty, exclusion and unemployment create conditions in which insecurity can flourish.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, President Bio said the international community must move beyond treating conflict and development as separate policy areas.
“Military action may contain a threat, but it cannot by itself build lasting peace,” he said. “When hunger, exclusion and despair deepen, insecurity takes root.”
The President pointed to the continuing suffering of civilians in Sudan, the unresolved conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the spread of terrorism across West Africa and the Sahara as evidence of the consequences of delayed action and weak institutions.
He stressed that the challenges may differ in origin, but they share a common warning: sustainable peace requires investment in people, communities and opportunity.
President Bio expressed concern that global military expenditure had continued to rise while resources for prevention, development and human security remained inadequate. He called for a better balance between spending on weapons and investment in education, livelihoods, infrastructure and social protection.
For Sierra Leone, this approach is reflected in the Government’s domestic programmes. Through Feed Salone, President Bio’s administration is increasing domestic food production, strengthening food security and supporting national resilience.
Through the Free Quality School Education programme, the Government is widening opportunities for children and seeking to ensure that a child’s future is not determined by the circumstances of birth.
The President also emphasized the importance of protecting girls and advancing their rights. He cited Sierra Leone’s enactment of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2024 and the country’s subsequent advocacy for the proclamation of 27 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage.
President Bio said development must protect childhood, education and freedom, particularly for girls who remain vulnerable to poverty, violence and exclusion.
He further warned that young people without jobs, skills, opportunity or a stake in the future could become vulnerable to recruiters, smugglers and dangerous migration routes.
Jobs, skills and dignity, he said, must therefore be central to every credible strategy for peace and development.
President Bio’s message was clear: lasting security will not be achieved through military responses alone. It will be built through good governance, education, food security, decent work and the creation of hope.
