At The Hague: Great Lakes Contact Group Discusses Justice and Accountability
This week, the International Contact Group on the Great Lakes Region will meet in The Hague, Netherlands. The upcoming meeting will likely focus on four urgent subject areas: security reform and civilian protection in eastern Congo, continued irregularities in the Congolese political process and the upcoming provincial elections, continued reform in the conflict minerals sector, and armed groups and regional dynamics including the FDLR and LRA. As a whole, these areas represent core impediments to peace, stability, and development in the Great Lakes. The Enough Project has developed recommendations to the group on specific elements of each subject area where this body can act to create real progress to mitigate conflict and fill critical gaps in cross-border coordination and communication. By Aaron Hall & Ashley Benner | May 23, 2012 This week the International Contact Group on the Great Lakes Region will meet in The Hague, Netherlands. This body, consisting of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the European Union, and the United Nations, aims to meet on a regular basis and has been convened since the early 2000s. The contact group was created to address political, diplomatic, security, and development issues in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The objective of the group is to act as a convener for the regular exchange of information, the harmonization of messaging, and the identification and discussion of gaps that exist in regional foreign policy among the member states. The group originally included countries such as Angola and South Africa but over the years has slimmed down to its current membership. The group now functions as a North American-European alliance on assistance, development, security, and economic diversification in the Great Lakes region. Once again, the upcoming contact group meeting has significant implications for regional stability, security, and economic development in the Great Lakes. With the recent turmoil in eastern Congo in the wake of the Bosco Ntaganda mutiny, increasing tensions between the Rwandan and Congolese militaries, uncertainty around necessary provincial elections in Congo, the continued efforts to regulate the conflict mineral sector in Congo and Rwanda, the deployment of U.S. military advisors to the region to pursue the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, and the recent capture of senior LRA commander Caesar Acellam, the Great Lakes nations are at a critical turning point with regards to regional security and multilateral relations with donor states. The very disturbing rebellion orchestrated by Ntaganda and senior elements of the ex-CNDP, coupled with growing suspicion of material and political support from the government of Rwanda, should give contact group members great pause. They must reassess their relationship with Rwanda in regards to assistance, development, and investment unless very deliberate and transparent steps are taken to defuse the security and humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo. The upcoming meeting at The Hague will likely focus on four urgent subject areas: security reform and civilian protection in eastern Congo, continued irregularities in the Congolese political process and the upcoming provincial elections, continued reform in the conflict minerals sector, and armed groups and regional dynamics including the FDLR and LRA. As a whole, these areas represent core impediments to peace, stability, and development in the Great Lakes. The following are recommendations to the group on specific elements of each subject area where this body can act to create real progress to mitigate conflict and fill critical gaps in cross-border coordination and communication. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
