The economic and social infrastructure of Sierra Leone is not well developed. Nearly half of the population survive by subsistence agriculture, although alluvial diamond mining (mining that extracts diamonds from deposits of sand, gravel and clay, which have been naturally transported by water erosion and deposited along either the banks of a river, the shoreline or on the bed of the ocean) accounts for nearly half of the country's exports and is the most significant source of hard currency earnings.
English is the official language of Sierra Leone but only 35% of its citizens are literate. The average life expectancy is 40 years and AIDS/HIV affects 7% of the population.
Diamonds were first discovered in Sierra Leone in 1930. In addition to diamonds, the country also has several other natural resources - titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold and chromite.
CIVIL WAR AND DIAMONDS
Between 1991 and 2002, the country suffered a brutal, ten-year civil war during which the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) committed horrendous atrocities, terrorizing the population and gaining control of the country's diamond mines.
Eight years of protracted war left tens of thousands of people displaced and unknown numbers dead or mutilated. Half a million of Sierra Leone's people were forced to flee the country. The UN Security Council established the Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in October 1999 to help restore peace. At its height, UNAMSIL had 17,000 troops and was the biggest UN peacekeeping operation in the world. The Abuja Agreement in 2001 finally led to a reduction of hostilities and by early 2002, tens of thousands of ex-combatants had been disarmed and demobilized. By January of 2002, the civil war was over and Sierra Leone became a democratic country.
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| In 2000, the UN officially accused Charles Taylor, then president of neighboring Liberia, of backing the insurgency by providing arms and training to the RUF in exchange for diamonds. Taylor stepped down as Liberian President in August 2003 as part of an internationally brokered peace deal to end the civil war in Liberia. Taylor went into exile in Nigeria in 2003 and was ultimately transferred to the Netherlands to stand trial in The Hague international criminal court. | | ||
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In 2000, the United Nations Security Council banned both direct and indirect imports of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone to member states in an effort to help stabilize the country and reduce the rebel's access to foreign currency and arms.
Since the end of the civil war in 2002, the diamond industry has provided technical assistance and training to Sierra Leone's Ministry of Mines in setting up the Government Diamond Office - an important step to being part of the Kimberley Process. In 2003 Sierra Leone joined the Kimberley Process, the international agreement developed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond supply chain and provides an assurance that diamonds are from conflict free sources.
PRESENT-DAY SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone is now at peace. Ernest Bai Koroma became president following elections in September, 2007. Today, diamonds represent a resource of crucial importance to the future development of the country. Sierra Leone continues to be a participant of the Kimberley Process and exported approximately $125 million worth of diamonds (approximately 3% of the world's diamonds) in 2006. Revenues from diamond exports are making a positive contribution to the rebuilding of its infrastructure, health services and education systems.
Fonte: http://www.diamondfacts.org/conflict/background.html#sierra
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