AfDB Provides Active Support to the Great Lakes Region

9 November 2009
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

To: 06/11/2009

Location: Bujumbura, Burundi

An important AfDB delegation, led by the institution's President, Donald Kaberuka, will attend a round table conference on the implementation of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes region scheduled to take place in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, from 5- and 6 November, 2009.

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) is a mechanism for regional peace, security, stability and development in the eleven core countries of Africa's Great Lakes region*, an area with a population of 282 million and an estimated 2009 GDP of USD 260 billion.

The ICGLR was established following a joint initiative in 1996 between the United Nations and the African Union. It is was born out of the collective resolve of its member states to transform the region into a place for the promotion of peace and enduring security, stability, social policy, growth and shared development. The pact was signed at the Second Summit of Heads of State held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2006, and it became effective in June 2008.

The roundtable's overall objective is to mobilize support for the implementation of the pact, and it will be organized along the lines of four programs of action. The programs comprise: peace and security; democracy and good governance; economic development and regional integration, as well as humanitarian, social and environmental issues.

The meeting will be attended by Burundi's President, Pierre Nkurunziza; Zambian President, Rupiah Banda; Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni; and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, along with the former presidents of Nigeria and Tanzania, Olusegun Obasanjo and Benjamin Mkapa, respectively. The African Union Commission Chairperson, Jean Ping, will also attend the event.

The AfDB is actively involved in the organization of the round-table and it continues to provide significant support to the ICGLR. It hosts and manages the Special Fund for Reconstruction and Development (SFRD), one of the key instruments of the ICGLR agreement. The SFRD was created to finance the implementation of protocols and programs of the covenant. It is funded by contributions from member states and voluntary contributions from cooperation and development partners.

The AfDB's cumulative commitment in the region's 11 countries stands at USD 11 billion and it has increased significantly over the past four years. Infrastructure and multinational programs, promoting regional integration, constitute the bulk of the commitment.

In addition to these projects, the AfDB is stakeholder and supports the largest regional initiatives such as: Horn of Africa Initiatives, the North-South Corridor, the Nacalla Corridor phases I and II, the Northern Corridor, the Kigali Connect Africa Summit, etc.

Contacts

Lotfi Madani

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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