Addis Ababa – President João Lourenço his Saturday, in Addis Ababa, once again warned that Africa will hardly be able to achieve economic and social development if it cannot resolve its issues of peace and security.
The Angolan statesman was speaking, in his capacity as Champion of the African Union (AU) for Peace and Reconciliation, before his African counterparts gathered in the Ethiopian capital.
His intervention took place on the first day of work at the 37th ordinary AU summit, running until this Sunday.
He declared that it is on the basis of this conviction that without peace and security it is impossible to achieve progress and development that, within the scope of his mandate as Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa, he dedicated his efforts to coordinating various peace initiatives.
These initiatives, he said, have been sub-regional, regional and at the continental level, aiming to contribute to the prevention, management and peaceful resolution of prevailing conflicts, particularly in the Great Lakes Region.
He cited, as an example, the tension between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring Rwanda, and the conflicts in the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and South Sudan.
In this regard, he recalled the two mini-summits held during 2023, with the aim of harmonizing and ensuring regular coordination of the Luanda and Nairobi processes and implementing the Joint Action Plan on the Resolution of the Security Crisis in eastern DRC.
With this effort, he said, the aim was to alleviate the hard tension and normalize politico-diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda.
The two meetings also aimed at important aspects such as the cessation of hostilities in the region, the full deployment of regional forces in East and Southern Africa as well as the cantonment and disarmament of the M-23 (March 23 Movement), to guarantee the return of refugees to their homelands, he said.
According to the head of state, the quick execution of the Joint Action Plan for the Resolution of the Security Crisis in the region was another desired objective.
In pursuit of these objectives, he added, Angola prepared a military contingent of its Armed Forces, to secure the cantonment areas of the M23, immediately after the ceasefire, “a process that regrettably never took place”.
João Lourenço also indicated that the deployment of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), in harmony with a decision by the organization's heads of State and Government, also aiming to support the Government of the DRC in its pacification efforts in the East of the country, has already begun with the sending of South African Army personnel to the field.
He also highlighted the creation of the Quadripartite Peace Mechanism in the DRC, integrated by the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council.
Under the auspices of the African Union, the decision was taken during the Quadripartite Summit in Luanda, on June 27, 2023, with the aim of coordinating and harmonizing peace initiatives in the Eastern Region of the DRC, he clarified.
He felt sorry that, despite all this, “we noticed the worsening of the situation, in the East of the DRC, with the attempt by the M23 to occupy new areas in the region”.
For the Angolan Head of State, this stance constitutes a clear violation of what was established in the Luanda and Nairobi processes, “destroying all the efforts and initiatives developed in recent years”.
“For this reason, we took the initiative to hold yesterday, here in Addis Ababa, a mini-summit with the aim of relaunching the foundations for reestablishing the commitments previously agreed upon”, he emphasized.
IZ/ADR/CF/jmc
