AYV News, July 25, 2023
His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has assured the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres that Sierra Leone remains unequivocally committed to the UN SDGs to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peaceful and prosperous societies as demonstrated in the past five years of his administration.
President Bio said: “In particular, we will continue to champion the global goals of SDG4 on education and SDG10 on reducing inequality within and among countries.
“I welcomed the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s full solidarity and total support for my Government’s new five-year mandate to accelerate sustainable development and social progress to improve the quality of lives of Sierra Leoneans.
“I look forward to strengthening our mutual interests and areas of collaboration including the UN Security Council, human capital development, agriculture productivity, food security and sovereignty, school feeding initiatives, long-term financing, debt restructuring and relief, and building inclusive and resilient economies.”
Dr. Julius Maada Bio won a landslide victory in the June 24, 2023 general elections to be re-elected Sierra Leone’s president for a second term of five years.
The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL) on Tuesday 27th June, announced at 4:20pm local time that President Dr. Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won 1,566,932 (56.17%) of a total of 2,789,808 valid ballots, beating out the ruling All People’s Congress candidate, Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, who garnered 1,148,262 (41.16%).
His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio is again the Supreme Head of State and Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Fountain Head of Unity, Honour, Freedom and Justice.
He first became President of Sierra Leone when he won the 2018 election and was inaugurated on May 12, 2018 as the 5th President of Sierra Leone.
Born on May 12, 1964 in Tihun, Sogbini chiefdom, Bonthe district, President Bio is one of 35 children born to Paramount Chief, Charlie Wonie Bio II, Sogbini chiefdom.
H.E. President Bio completed his primary, secondary and undergraduate education in Sierra Leone. Always driven by a passion to serve his country, H.E. President Bio started his illustrious public service journey as a school teacher before joining the Sierra Leone Army where he rose through the ranks as Brigadier.
He previously served as Chief Secretary of State, Chief of Defense Staff, Minister of Information, Minister of Marine Resources, Deputy Head of State, and ultimately as Head of State of Sierra Leone from January to March 1996.
As Head of State, President Bio presided over the conduct of the first democratic elections in Sierra Leone in nearly three decades. In Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Wonie Bio is popularly referred to as the “Father of Democracy” because of his outstanding contribution towards the restoration of democracy and attainment of peace in Sierra Leone.
President Bio is a well-known Philanthropist and Humanitarian through the work of the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation. The Foundation donated food and other items to victims and families affected by the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and during the environmental disasters of 2015.
Most recently, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, pursuing a doctorate programme in Peace Studies.
H.E. President Bio credits his mother, Mamie Amie, as the person from whom he acquired all his driving principles in life – calmness, hard worker, and a staunch believer in God.
António Guterres is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Portugal and Secretary General of the United Nations.
He studied physics and engineering at the Universidade de Lisboa’s elite Instituto Superior Técnico, earning a degree in 1971. His time as a student was marked by the decline of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, and Guterres was active in the protest movement that helped to topple Salazar’s successor, Marcello Caetano, in 1974.
After graduating, Guterres worked as a physics instructor, but, as Portugal began its transition to democracy, he became more active in politics. He joined the Socialist Party in 1974, and two years later he was elected to the Portuguese parliament.
Over the next two decades, he served on a variety of parliamentary committees, and, from 1981 to 1983, he was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In 2005 the UN General Assembly elected Guterres to serve as the High Commissioner for Refugees. He increased efficiency at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reducing staff and costs at its Geneva headquarters while improving the organization’s response capabilities. Such steps were clearly necessary at a time when conflicts were displacing populations at a level not seen since World War II, and Guterres used his position to encourage rich countries to do more to aid the world’s refugees.
