By Godfrey Olukya 5-9-2013
There is a joint visit of the special envoys and representatives of theĀ UN, AU, US and EU to the Great Lakes region under a theme,”
International Solidarity for Peace and Development.
The visit started on September 3rd and will go up to 7th September 2013.
Demonstrating commitment, solidarity and coherence of theĀ international community in support of the Peace, Security and
Cooperation Framework of 24 February 2013 is the message of the visit.
This joint visit involves Mary Robinson, Special Envoy of theĀ Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region, Martin Kobler, Special
Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic ofĀ Congo, Boubacar Diarra, AU Special Representative for the Great Lakes,Ā Russell Feingold, US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes and the DRC,Ā and Koen Vervaeke, EU Senior Coordinator to the Great Lakes Region.
The Special Envoys said āWe encourage the parties to reinvigorate theĀ implementation of their commitments under the Peace, Security andĀ Cooperation Framework, and in accordance with UN Security CouncilĀ resolution 2098.ā
They traveled to the region to encourage the de-escalation of tensionsĀ in eastern DRC, and to identify and support confidence-building
measures between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. They urgeĀ all parties to bring the Kampala Dialogue to a positive and swiftĀ conclusion, in order to move to a broader process addressing theĀ deeper causes of the conflict.
The visit began in Kinshasa on 4 September, and will include visits toĀ Goma and Kigali as well as attendance at the Extraordinary Summit ofĀ the ICGLR in Kampala today convened by its chair, President YoweriĀ Museveni of Uganda.
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