Vietnam backs UN strategy to promote peace in Great Lakes Region

Hanoi (VNA) –  Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Vietnam the United Nations (UN), has reaffirmed Vietnam’s support for the UN’s strategy to promote security and sustainable development in  the Great Lakes Region in Africa.

Quy chaired the UN Security Council’s online meeting on the Great Lakes Region in Africa on April 12 in his capacity as rotating President of the UNSC in April 2021.

Speaking at the meeting as a Vietnamese representative, Quy welcomed efforts to strengthen solidarity and cooperation of countries in the Great Lakes Region.

However, he also shared the UNSC’s common concern about the ongoing security instability and difficult humanitarian situation in the region.

Quy emphasised three main focuses to ensure peace and sustainable development in the region, including further promoting regional cooperation, settlement of root causes of conflicts, and increasing assistance from the international community.

Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary‑General for the Great Lakes Region, presented the Secretary-General’s latest biannual report on the implementation of the 2013 Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region

He said that countries in the Great Lakes Region have continuously maintained their commitments to promote cooperation at both regional and bilateral levels in recent years.

Regional countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda are now stepping up to promote the normalisation of bilateral relations as well as expanding cooperation with partners in and outside the region.

However, there remained challenges regarding the security situation in the region, especially in eastern Congo, where armed groups have been engaged in illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources, he said.

The Special Envoy further informed about a plan to deploy the UN’s strategy to promote peace and security in the region with a vision for the next 10 years, which was approved by the UN Secretary-General in October 2020.

The 2013 Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework was signed by 13 countries in the Great Lakes Region to cooperate in maintaining peace in Congo and the region. The agreement is sponsored by the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Great Lakes Region and the UN./.