Top leaders from at least 10 countries, including Heads of State and Government, will descend on Kigali early next week for a high-level UN conference on post-conflict peace-building, due November 8-9, the Foreign Affairs ministry announced yesterday.

The conference, jointly organized by the Government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the UN, will attract delegates from nations that constitute the UN Peace Building Commission (PBC), and those emerging from conflict.

Rwanda is the current chair of the Commission, with the other members being Burundi, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and according to the statement, the meeting aims at "drawing upon Rwanda’s experience in addressing some of the critical challenges the country faced following the Genocide in 1994.”

Also to be represented at the high-profile conference are Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, South Sudan and Timor Leste, according to the communiqué.

Presidents Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Salva Kiir of South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, are among those who have already confirmed attendance, the release says.

Guillaume Soro, the Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, will also attend.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, said the meeting would help enhance the "ongoing global dialogue on peace-building and getting Africa to be a more important contributor to the process”.

"We look forward to sharing innovations that have delivered good results for Rwanda in building lasting peace and development, as well as some of the challenges we have faced in the last 17 years. 

"We are also very eager to hear about the experiences of other countries, in order to make our modest contribution in support of global nation-building,” the minister says in the statement.

The meeting will ‘reflect on Rwanda’s journey towards reconciliation, reconstruction and development, with a focus on leadership and national ownership; innovative approaches to reconciliation and socioeconomic development; and the strategic use of aid, as the key drivers,” adds the communiqué.

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