UN General Assembly
2001

financing. In this regard, Sierra Leone, one of the least developed countries in the world, eagerly looks forward to the results of the forthcoming Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. There are many pressing and unresolved problems on the international peace and security agenda of the United Nations. One of them is the situation in Palestine. It remains the core issue in the search for peace in the Middle East. In our view, it also breeds tension, and directly fans the flames of war in other parts of the world. In the current state of affairs it is no longer enough to speak about the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. They have a right to an independent State of their own. In short, the establishment of an independent Palestinian State is well overdue. In terms of international peace and security, we cannot afford any further delay. Sierra Leone is obviously not a nuclear Power. However, as a member of the human family, we are