Sierra Leone.

• Position: Establishment of new peacekeeping operations

On 13 July, the Security Council established a new peacekeeping operation - the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) - to monitor the military and security situation in the country, as security conditions permit, for an initial six-month period, until 13 January 1999. In unanimously adopting resolution 1181 (1998), the Council also condemned the continued resistance by remnants of the ousted junta and members of the Revolutionary United Front to the legitimate Government and demanded that they lay down their arms immediately.

The new Mission will include up to 70 military observers, as well as a small medical unit, with necessary equipment and civilian support staff. The Council, which emphasized the importance of maintaining a secure environment for Mission personnel, stated that the mandate also required the peacekeeping operation to monitor the disarmament and demobilization of former combatants concentrated in the secure areas of the country.

Its responsibilities will also include monitoring the role of the Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in those areas. UNOMSIL would also assist in monitoring respect for international humanitarian law and for the voluntary disarmament and demobilization of members of the Civil Defence Forces (traditional militias), as security conditions permit.

Expressing serious concern at the reports of cross-border arms flows and support to rebels in Sierra Leone, the Council welcomed the Secretary-General's intention to pursue steps to eliminate those activities. Also expressing grave concern for the plight of children affected by the conflict, the Council welcomed the efforts of the Government to coordinate an effective national response to the needs of children affected by armed conflict, and the recommendation of the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict that Sierra Leone be made a pilot project for a more concerted response to the needs of children in the context of post-conflict peace-building.

The Council further welcomed the decision of the Secretary-General to convene a high-level conference to mobilize assistance for peacekeeping activities, emergency and humanitarian needs, and reconstruction and rehabilitation in Sierra Leone. It considered the Secretary-General's report on the situation in Sierra Leone, dated 9 June, in which he recommended the establishment of an observer mission and expressed...