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West Africa: MRU Vows to Sustain Peace
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The Inquirer (Monrovia)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Melissa Chea-Annan
The original Mano River Union (MRU) members, comprising Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have vowed to promote Peace and Security within their region.
The MRU leaders, at the end of a one-day Summit in Monrovia also reiterated their profound gratitude to the international community for the support in their effort aimed at ensuring that peace and stability are consolidated in the MRU sub-region.
In their final Communiqué, the MRU leaders expressed delight over the progressive return to peace, security and stability in the Mano River basin and agreed, as a result of the positive developments, to direct their efforts towards promoting socio-economic development and integration.
The meeting that was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia was attended by President Ernest Bai Koroma, of Sierra Leone; Lansana Kouyate, Prime Minister of Guinea; Laurent Dona Fologo, Chair of the Economic and Social Council of Côte d'Ivoire, who represented the President of Cote d"Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo.
The President of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf served as Chair and Host of the Summit.
The Heads of State and Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea also expressed appreciation to the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire for the solidarity and interest shown in the Union over the past four years and formally welcomed Cote d'Ivoire into the Union. They admitted the sisterly Republic of Ivory Coast as a full member subject to its national requirements. The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, having been attending meetings of the Union as observer since 2004, attended the Summit and acceded to the Union.
During their deliberations, the leaders deeply considered issues of common interest and concern relating to the revitalization of the Secretariat of the sub-regional organization, the consolidation of peace, security and stability within the Mano River Union basin plus Cote d'Ivoire. They also discussed the challenges posed by the rising food prices in the region.
The Leaders in their final communiqué instructed the Ministers of Agriculture in collaboration with the Secretary General to prepare bankable Union projects that would attract official and private capital in support of the Union's objectives and review the food security situation on a regular basis beginning with a meeting to be held one month from now.
The MRU leaders reaffirmed their strong will to combine their efforts in order to reinforce their resolved action and to take the appropriate and necessary action to deal with those current and emerging issues. They also approved the implementation of ongoing projects and development of new ones to address the daunting challenges facing the region. In that connection, the leaders undertook to apply every effort to resolve the border discussion between Guinea and Sierra Leone.
After detailed consideration of the associated issues, the Summit decided to approve the provision by each of the original member country the full amount of US$100,000 to make advance payment benefit to qualified retired and serving staff members of the Secretariat, taking into consideration the need to alleviate financial strains on their families, pending review and verification of amounts owed them with a view to finding lasting settlement to the problem.
The leaders also approved the provision by each Member Country the amount of US$125,000 to the Secretariat operational budget within the next six months to support programs for the period of June through December 2008, and instructed the Secretary General to prepare and present to the Council a detailed and well explained budget for the fiscal year 2009.
The Summit also authorized the Secretariat to engage ECOWAS with a view to finding a more sustainable solution for funding the MRU and to continue dialogue with development partners both bilateral and multilateral to secure support following the development of full fledge programs and projects that would benefit the Union.
The leaders approved the inclusion of projects in the Secretariat's program portfolio so as to address critical peace and security matters within the Mano River basin, including the control of small arms and light weapons, harmonization of legislation on arms control and other peace building measures. In this connection, they authorized the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security to meet in a month's time and formulate concrete proposals and action plans.
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They further reiterated their strong will to take all actions required to speed up the integration process of the four countries and authorized the Chairperson of the Union to undertake consultations with international bodies and partners and request Member States to pursue the United Nations for assistance to implement proposed interventions aimed at addressing the food crisis within the Union.
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