26 11 13 DR Congo: senior UN envoy begins visit to bolster regional peace efforts

Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, Mary Robinson, will focus on the
immediate priority of the so-called Kampala dialogue in the Ugandan capital,
where the M23 rebel group and the DRC Government failed to reach agreement
earlier this month.

She
will also seek to foster progress in implementing the broader commitments of the
11-nation Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region,
which she has called “a framework of hope”.

“Developments
over the past month have brought renewed hope to people in the eastern DRC,”
Mrs. Robinson said. “Further efforts are needed to ensure that the country is
rid of all negative forces and security is re-established sustainably. Progress
on the larger political agenda is now urgently needed, as
well.

“We
must work to restore trust and take the steps that are needed to resolve the
underlying causes of conflict and instability to the
region.”

The
eastern DRC has been wracked by fighting between the Government and various
armed groups for many years, the latest being the M23, composed of soldiers who
mutinied from the DRC national army (FARDC) in April.

In
the past year, the fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people, exacerbating
an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region which includes 2.6 million
internally displaced persons and 6.4 million in need of food and emergency
aid.

Mrs.
Robinson began her tour in Tanzania, a framework signatory, meeting today with
President Jakaya Kikwete and other officials in Dar es Salaam on the need to
enhance cooperation and sustained political dialogue among PSC
signatories.

Tomorrow
she will visit Rwanda for talks with top officials on concluding the Kampala
Dialogue and implementing the Framework, and then fly on to the Republic of
Congo. On 27-29 November, she will visit the DRC, including Kinshasa, the
capital, and Goma, the main city in the vast country’s
east.

On
30 November, she will attend the East African Community (EAC) Summit of Heads of
States in Kampala, where she intends to mobilise international support for
regional organizations as part of the broader PSC Framework agenda for enhanced
regional integration.

 

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46587&Cr=Democratic&Cr1=Congo#.UpRt2MSkq-