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Africa’s Great Lakes Region: The Need for a Single Peace Process

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Africa’s Great Lakes Region: The Need for a Single Peace Process

Posted by Enough Team on July 31, 2013

Enough Project Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jonathan Hutson, [email protected]

+1-202-386-1618

Africa's Great Lakes Region: The Need for a Single Peace Process 

NAIROBI – Ahead of the Special Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, or ICGLR, Heads of State and Government meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on July 31, the Enough Project released a field dispatch, "The Need for a Single Peace Process in Africa’s Great Lakes Region”. The new report focuses on the escalating security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is slated to top the meeting agenda.

The report, written by Enough Project Field Consultant Aaron Hall, is based on research conducted by Enough Project field staff, reporting from the Kampala Peace Talks and the front lines of combat between the Congolese military and M23 rebels in eastern Congo.

Report author Aaron Hall states:

“The current structure for regional peace is flawed, and leaves room for regional actors to manipulate the other ongoing peace processes. International stakeholders and leaders in the Great Lakes region must act together to exercise diplomatic and economic leverage, and to ensure the success of a broader peace process.”

The Enough Project states  that renewed fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebel group, which began on July 14, has amplified tensions in the region and could potentially stall prospects for regional peace processes, currently being brokered through the Kampala Peace Talks, the U.N. Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region, or U.N. PSCF, and through Congo’s national consultations.

The report argues that three political processes complicate efforts to establish a comprehensive peace process, and states that the newly appointed special envoys to the region should push for a single, coordinated peace process under the umbrella of the U.N. Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo, or U.N. PSCF.  A coordinated approach, he writes, will bring key stakeholders, particularly the state of Rwanda, to the table to discuss strategies for creating nonmilitary solutions to ongoing conflicts.

Last week, the U.N. Security Council met to discuss implementation of the 11+4 Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework signed in February. The meeting, chaired by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, signaled a recommitment to ending conflict in Congo, and called for U.N. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Mary Robinson to establish benchmarks and indicators of progress on the Framework. Robinson is set to present benchmarks at the July 31 ICGLR meeting in Nairobi, ahead of the next meeting of the “11+4” oversight mechanism which will formally adopt them on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high-level debate in New York this September.

Enough Project Senior Policy Analyst Sasha Lezhnev states: 

“UN Envoy Mary Robinson deserves praise for her efforts to keep the Great Lakes countries on track with the peace framework. It is now time for her and U.S. Special Envoy Russ Feingold to follow up with President Kabila on democratization reforms in Congo and to bring together regional leaders to agree on a common strategy to address security threats and take concrete steps toward conflict-free and transparent regional economic integration.”

Read the full report: “Field Dispatch: The Need for a Single Peace Process in Africa’s Great Lakes Region” https://enoughproject.org/files/Great-Lakes-Field-Dispatch.pdf

The Enough Project is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on the crises in Sudan, South Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Enough conducts intensive field research, develops practical policies to address these crises, and shares sensible tools to empower citizens and groups working for change. To learn more about Enough, go to www.enoughproject.org.