Historic joint visit to Africa’s Great Lake region
Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the President of the World Bank Group and Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General will from May 22-24 make a historic joint visit to Africa’s Great Lakes region. This is in support of a recent landmark peace agreement and to push for economic development in one of the world’s most troubled regions. A press release issued May 20, 2013 has said.
“The trip also follows a groundbreaking agreement — the “Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region” – that was signed in February by 11 African nations to end conflict in the DRC and bring peace to the Great Lakes region.
The signatories are Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia,” says the release.
“This comprehensive new approach gives the DRC and the Great Lakes region its best hope for peace in many years. But commitments on paper must translate into action on the ground. A peace deal must deliver a peace dividend – development, opportunity and hope for people who have suffered for too long,” said the UN Secretary-General.
However, the release stated that, “the World Bank Group is working closely with governments, the private sector and international partners to support to reconstruct and help the countries of the Great Lakes realize their development goals. It has to date invested approximately $6.7 billion in DRC’s development programme; $2.5 billion in Rwanda’s; and $7.3 billion in Uganda’s.
Mr. Kim said, “The leaders of the Great Lakes region will be the key drivers of peace, stability and economic growth. We pledge that the United Nations and the World Bank Group will work closely together in new and deeper ways, following the governments’ lead. We need to ensure that implementation of the political and security aspects of the framework agreement goes hand-in-hand with the economic development that is essential to lasting peace and stability.”
By Dorcas Appiah