UN Great Lakes Special Envoy Mary Robinson meeting the Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo has said that Rwanda is committed to the successful implementation of this peace framework that will bring peace and stability not only in the DRC but in the whole region.
Mushikwabo said this following a meeting with the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Mary Robinson.
Robinson was in Rwanda on Wednesday in her continuation of a regional tour to encourage the implementation of an 11-nation peace agreement she has called a “framework of hope” for ending the conflicts and suffering in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The framework known as the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for DRC and the region was signed in Addis Ababa in February this year. Signatories to the framework include; Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo, DRC, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
According to Mushikiwabo, what is good for the DRC is even better for Rwanda and the region.
“We will work very closely with the Special Envoy and other regional partners to see the implementation of this framework that will bring peace and hope to the people of Eastern DRC and the region,” she said.
The UN Special Envoy said that she is aware of the huge responsibility that her role carries but that she was ready to work with partners like Rwanda and other countries in the region to achieve a lot in terms of implementing the framework.
“This framework needs all signatories to work together to achieve its objectives. As the UNSG Special Envoy, I will focus on people affected by the instability in Eastern DRC and I hope that this framework will bring back hope to them,” said Mrs. Robinson.
While in Kigali, the Special Envoy spoke on telephone to President Paul Kagame who is traveling outside the country, and held high level meetings with other senior officials.
She also met with civil society organizations, including women’s groups, members of the diplomatic corps, and the UN country team.
The Special Envoy said she was encouraged by her conversations with both President Kagame and Foreign Minister Mushikiwabo.
Earlier in the Robinson began by visiting and laying a wreath at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in memory of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide against Tutsis. Here she said she hoped that by next year, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, “we could finally move forward in peace in the region”.
This regional tour will also take her to Uganda, Burundi, South Africa and Ethiopia.
Robinson was appointed by the UN Secretary General as the UN Great Lakes Special Envoy on 18 March 2013. She previously served as Irish President from 1990 to 1997 and as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.