KINSHASA DECLARATION CALLS FOR RATIFICATION OF

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000296 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV CG SUBJECT: KINSHASA DECLARATION CALLS FOR RATIFICATION OF GREAT LAKES PACT ¶1. (U) Parliamentarians representing the eleven countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (IC/GLR) pledged February 28 in Kinshasa to work toward "rapid ratification" of the regional Pact on Security, Stability, and Development and affirmed their determination "to end permanently conflicts in the Great Lakes Region." The Pact was signed by IC/GLR heads of state December 15 in Nairobi and includes ten protocols aimed at promoting regional cooperation. ¶2. (U) The parliamentarians' Kinshasa Declaration expressed their consensus on implementing the Nairobi Pact. It called on their governments to contribute to the Special Fund for Reconstruction and Development, a key Nairobi Pact protocol. It noted the need to inform their citizens about the Pact and its intended effects. It also called on member governments to contribute funds for staffing the IC/GLR Executive Secretariat, to be headed by Ambassador Liberata Mulamula of SIPDIS Tanzania and located in Bujumbura. ¶3. (U) The February 26-28 conference marked the first meeting of parliamentarians from the 11 IC/GLR countries. It followed two IC/GLR summits at the head of state level. The first produced the Dar es Salaam Declaration in November 2004, which established a Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee charged with drafting protocols on peace and security, democracy and good governance, economic development, and regional integration. A series of technical, ministerial, and preparatory meetings culminated in the Pact signed at the second summit in Nairobi in December, 2006. ¶4. (U) The Nairobi Pact's most ambitious protocol calls for non-aggression and mutual defense among Great Lakes countries, including cooperation in disarming and dismantling rebel groups. Other goals include the creation of a regional certification mechanism to monitor and verify the export of natural resources, extradition treaties among Great Lakes countries, transborder development programs to promote regional integration of border populations, and a legal framework to enable refugees and IDPs to recover their property. ¶5. (U) The Kinshasa conference received support from "European Parliamentarians for Africa" and from the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region, co-chaired by Canada and the Netherlands. The Group of Friends has offered to provide some funds for the Executive Secretariat, but most financing for the Secretariat's budget will need to come from member countries. Only the DRC and Tanzanian presidents have pledged funding for IC/GLR initiatives thus far, and only for the Special Fund for Reconstruction and Development. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The cost of implementing the Pact's ambitious program is significant. If member states are serious about making the Pact a success, they will need to dedicate more resources to it. End comment. MEECE