Sierra Leone: Peacekeepers depart, challenges remain

Sierra Leone faces a spectrum of challenges, from explosive youth unemployment to taking legitimate control of its rich mineral resources, as the United Nations peacekeeping mission winds down and the next phase of the West African country's development begins, the mission chief has said. "We were there to keep the peace. We've kept it. So we want the peace-builders to come now and work with the people on such challenges as 70 per cent of the 5 million population living on less than $1 a day and 70 per cent illiteracy," the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Daudi Mwakawago, told a news conference at UN Headquarters.