Meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

After the usual courtesies, the Sierra Leone Foreign Minister underscored the peace and security that Sierra Leone enjoys following the country’s civil war. He also avowed the outstanding manner in which Sierra Leone has been managing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The Minister echoed the message of resilience and hope from Sierra Leone’s perspective which other countries can learn from.

The Minister informed the meeting about his government’s commitment to promote human capital development. He also informed about the establishment of three new universities in Sierra Leone.

On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela highlighted the progress his country made prior the economic sanctions imposed on them by the United States, as well as indicated the remarkable progress Venezuela continues to make to overcome the sanctions.

The following agreements were reached during the meeting:

The Sierra Leone Foreign Minister used the opportunity to request the granting of 50 scholarships to students annually for a period of five years, to study in Venezuela in various disciplines. This plea was agreed by the Venezuela side.

It was also agreed that a trade and investment delegation from Sierra Leone visits Venezuela in September of this year. The delegation will focus on various sectors of development such as but not limited to tourism, health, education, infrastructure and agriculture.

More so, the Venezuela side agreed to support Sierra Leone’s candidacy for a seat on the Non-Permanent category of the UNSC and to also lobby their alliance to lend some support to Sierra Leone.

On the Venezuela side, a request was made to support Venezuela’s candidacy for the Human Rights Council. This request was endorsed by the Sierra Leone side.

The meeting ended by alluding to the pending visit to Venezuela of the Minister of Technical and Higher Education of Sierra Leone.