NEW YORK - President Paul Kagame has said words must be translated into actions for the sake of the peace of the populations of the Great Lakes Region.

President Kagame made the remarks during the High Level meeting on the Democratic Republic of Congo framework agreement that took place at the headquarters of the United Nations on Tuesday.

The meeting most of which was held in private was chaired by the secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. 

Addressing the gathering, President Paul Kagame welcomed in particular the benchmarks and indicators related to the neutralization and disarmament of all armed groups that have wrecked havoc in the entire region for decades. 

"We look forward to the materialization of these commitments alongside the economic aspects of the Framework committed and empowered by the UN Secretary-General and World Bank President when they visited the region few months ago. Let our commitments become deeds for the sake of the peace our populations aspire to. Let our words become action for the benefit of our nations.”

The meeting brought together signatories of the peace, security and cooperation framework of the Democratic Republic of Congo which was signed in February this year in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Countries present adopted the benchmarks and indicators of progress in as far as the implementation for the framework is concerned.

The UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon maintained that despite existing challenges such as an influx of refugees, peace and security is still possible. 

"I am encouraged by recent developments, including the recent extraordinary summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in Kampala. I welcome your joint efforts, especially through the work of the Technical Support Committee, to produce benchmarks and indicators of progress. I hope you adopt those today.”

Apart from Rwanda, the high level meeting was also attended by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan, Angola, South Africa, Zambia, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kenya and Sudan were welcomed as new signatories to the Addis Ababa peace and security framework. 

President Paul Kagame also took the opportunity to extend condolences to victims of the terrorist attack in Kenya where over 60 people died and more than 150 others injured. The President said the Government of Rwanda firmly stand with Kenya in resisting and combating the scourge of terrorism.