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