145. Financing of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone

The Security Council, by its resolution 1270 (1999) of 22 October 1999, established the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) for an initial period of six months. By the same resolution the Council decided that UNAMSIL would take over the substantive civilian and military components and functions as well as the assets of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), which had been established by the Council in resolution 1181 (1998) of 13 July 1998 and that the mandate of UNOMSIL should terminate immediately upon the establishment of UNAMSIL.

The mandate entrusted to UNAMSIL under the terms of Security Council resolution 1270 (1999) was to cooperate with the Government of Sierra Leone and other parties in the implementation of the peace agreement, to assist the Government in the implementation of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration plan, to establish a presence at key locations, to ensure security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, to monitor adherence to the ceasefire agreement, to encourage and support the creation of confidence-building mechanisms, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to support the operation of United Nations civilian officials and to provide support, as requested, for the constitutional elections.

Subsequently, by its resolution 1289 (2000) of 7 February 2000, the Security Council revised the mandate of the Mission to include the following additional tasks: to provide security at key locations and Government buildings; to facilitate the free flow of people, goods and humanitarian assistance along specified thoroughfares; to provide security in and at all sites of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme; to coordinate with and assist the law enforcement authorities in common areas of deployment; and to guard weapons, ammunition and other military equipment collected from ex-combatants and assist in their disposal or destruction. The mandate of UNAMSIL has been extended by the Council in subsequent resolutions, the latest of which was resolution 1610 (2005) of 30 June 2005, by which the mandate was extended for a final period of six months until 31 December 2005.

The General Assembly considered the question of the financing of UNAMSIL at its sixtieth and sixty-first sessions (resolutions 60/279 & 61/288).

At its resumed sixty-second session, in June 2008, the General Assembly took note of the report of the Secretary-General on the financing of UNAMSIL, which provided details on the final disposition of the assets of the Mission as at 31 December 2007 (resolution 62/266).