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Congo-Kinshasa: Goma - Amani Programme Steering Committee Meets With High Level Delegation
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United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
7 August 2008
Posted to the web 7 August 2008
Amadou Ba
The Steering Committee of the Amani Programme for peace in the Kivu provinces of eastern DRC continued its work on Wednesday 6 August 2008 in Goma, North Kivu province, in the presence of MONUC head Alan Doss and MONUC Force Commander General Babacar Gaye, accompanied by a DRC government delegation of eight ministers as well as ambassadors from the international community.
The delegation is in Goma to take part in several meetings of the Steering Committee of the Amani Programme, to evaluate the process and to meet the actors on the ground implied in the Amani Programme, including the signatories of the Acts of Engagement of the Goma Conference. They must also give a progress report on the Nairobi process.
Upon arrival in Goma, DRC Minister of the Interior Denis Kalumé underlined that the delegation have "a whole series of questions to pose in relation to the Amani programme, which means peace, and peace means the suspension of hostilities, disengagement, the grouping of combatants, and brassage for their reinsertion and reintegration."
"Parallel to that, buffer zones will be created by disengagement where MONUC will deploy until state authority - the police and administration - is put in place. We will evaluate all these things, where we are," he added.
The key event of the first day was the opening of the Steering Committee meeting.
North Kivu governor Julien Palaku presented an exhaustive assessment of the actions undertaken by the provincial management committee of the Amani Programme, of which he is president.
He explained the various public awareness campaigns undertaken throughout the territories of North Kivu, and underlined certain obstacles, such as financial problems.
DRC Vice Admiral Didier Etumba, co-president of the Joint Committee on peace and security, underlined the military, humanitarian and social situation. He also gave an evaluation of the committee structure and presented some recommendations.
On the military situation, Vice Admiral Dider Etumba pointed out the three documents relative to the Amani programme which were signed by the armed groups, except for the Forces Républicaines Fédéralistes (FRF).
On the humanitarian situation, he deplored the critical situation of displaced people, made worse by the harassment, rapes and recruitment of children as combatants and slaves by the armed groups, as well as the destruction of local structures and the increasing death rate in the two Kivu provinces.
The Vice Admiral recognized that the implementation of the operations of disengagement of the armed groups was made difficult because of the lack of financing.
He added that the absence of the FRF and the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) considerably slowed down the work of the commission, and delayed the calendar of activities.
As regards recommendations, he estimated that the disengagement of the armed groups is a necessary requirement.
He finally drew attention to a real risk of humanitarian catastrophe in the event of a resumption of hostilities, and if actions are not undertaken in favor of those displaced.
The armed groups who signed the Goma Acts of Engagement of 23 January 2008 presented a memorandum for submission to the Steering Committee, with the notable exception of the CNDP.
In the memorandum the signatories underlined certain challenges that they regard as "a burden on the advance of the process."
These challenges include "the non release of prisoners and detainees of the armed groups, suspension of certain partner's participation in the work of the commission, the incomplete sensitisation of the armed groups and the population on the process, because of a lack of means and organisation."
Consequently, the signatories recommended the release of the prisoners, the organisation of a new public awareness campaign and the effective and fast return of the partners who were suspended from the process.
They also recommended the examination of armed group leaders becoming political leaders, at a time when peace and security issues are top of the agenda in North and South Kivu.
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This first day of dialogue was completed on Wednesday evening by a working session involving the Steering Committee and the representatives of the CNDP, and the FRF of South Kivu.
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| Copyright © 2008 United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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