“On behalf of the United Nations Secretary General and the United Nations family in Sierra Leone, I wish to express our sincere and profound gratitude to the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Foreign Minister, members of the Government, leaders of political parties, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, the inter-religious council, the artists, the private sector and the people of Sierra Leone as a whole for the spontaneous and compassionate response following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12th January 2010” Michael von der Schulenburg Executive Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (ERSG) said in a statement.

Schulenburg continued: ‘’The timely and sincere support provided by the People of Sierra Leone to the people of Haiti and the solidarity shown towards the United Nations in the aftermaths of the devastating earthquake demonstrate the goodwill and compassion of the government and people of Sierra Leone in responding to a disaster of enormous magnitude that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and caused untold suffering and destruction.” The ERSG praised the former war-torn nation:
“Such goodwill of the people of Sierra Leone has also been evident in the country’s participation in other United Nations peace missions, including Darfur over the past years.’’

The statement ended: “The assistance and numerous fund raising activities by the Government, the artist of Sierra Leone, by civil society and other charities will go a long way in building international solidarity with the people of Haiti and the United Nations.”

It could be recalled following the aftermath of the earthquake, Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma pledge the sum of One hundred thousand dollars towards relief effort in the former French colony. His action was widely debated among most of Sierra Leone’s five million populations. Whiles some praised the President for the pledge others said Sierra Leone is too poor for such philanthropy. Concerts were also held by other groups with proceeds donated to Haiti relief effort.