Regional body to table 33 projects at Burundi meet

National coordinators of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) held a conference in the Central African Republic (CAR), to select projects that will be listed for funding at a regional roundtable that will take place next month. According to the Ag National Coordinator, Joseph Kabakeza, a number of issues that aim at accelerating implementation of the regional Security, Stability and Development pact were discussed at the CAR meet. “Among other things, we selected 33 priority projects which will be implemented to advance crucial areas such as good governance, peace and security, including other cross-cutting issues. These projects will be tabled at the roundtable in Burundi.” So far, Rwanda’s progress as regards the execution and domestication of this pact is impressive. This is mainly due to the fact that most of its protocols fit in our national framework. “We however want to make it more practical so that we go beyond solving emergencies to building sustainable development,” Kabakeza explained. The pact was adopted as a collective determination by different countries in the Great Lakes Region, to transform the region into a space of sustainable peace and security for states and peoples, characterized by political and social stability; shared growth and development. Officials note that the Regional pact has a number of protocols which seek to solve major issues such as eliminating Gender and sexual violence and solving the refugee situation among the 11 member states among others. Details of the priority projects were however not disclosed. During the CAR meeting, the planning process was also streamlined to ensure that the secretariat links up with the national level in a bid to coordinate member states. The National Coordination Mechanism is responsible for the implementation of projects and domestication of protocols at national level. Ends