Govt reiterates commitment to restore regional peace

GASABO - The Minister of Health, Dr. Richard Sezibera, has said that Rwanda is putting much effort in the implementation of the Great Lakes Region peace pact. He said this yesterday during the opening of a two-day workshop of the national stakeholders on the implementation of the pact on security, stability, and development in the region. The conference which is taking place at Hotel Novotel was organised by the Rwanda National Coordination Mechanism for the International Conference on the Great lakes Region (ICGLR). Sezibera who was until recently, the President’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region also cited some changes registered concerning peace in the region over the last five years, despite the fact that the journey is still long. “There has been some positive change in the last five years even if the journey is still long. Rwanda has had a big role to play in that change. It supports this pact because it is the only way through which the region can get peace and development for its citizens,” he said. The minister also called upon Rwandan and regional citizens to implement the peace agenda by themselves instead of looking for outside help which he said comes with more problems by distorting the countries’ history. According to Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba the new envoy to the region, the workshop will also aim at deliberating the way forward for the effective involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of the pact and review the progress made in creating its awareness. Some of the achievements highlighted by Mutaboba included the setting up of the executive secretariat in Bujumbura with the entire staff, establishing the treasury into which every member country puts funds annually, and the agreement between Rwanda and DR Congo on eliminating the Interahamwe militias from the Congolese jungles. The Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region was signed on December 12 2006 in Nairobi by the eleven member States of the ICGLR which has its headquarters in the Burundian capital Bujumbura. The ICGLR is an initiative of Heads of State and governments destined to find analytical and integrated solutions to problems of peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region. Ends