Vietnam’s representative to the UNSC on November 17 urged UN Missions to the Great Lakes region to reinforce coordination to prioritise the protection of civilians following the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army)’s attacks on local population.

At the UN Security Council’s consultancy session on the situation in the Great Lakes region, Ambassador Le Luong Minh said Vietnam is deeply concerned about the spread of violent attacks perpetrated by the LRA against civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and the Sudan .

The LRA’s reprisal attacks continue to constitute a major threat to peace and security in the Great Lakes region, the Vietnamese representative said, demanding that the force lay down arms, renounce violence and seriously join the Uganda Government in resuming the Juba peace process.

While urging UN Missions in the region, namely MONUC, UNMIS and MINURCAT to strengthen cooperation in protecting civilians, Ambassador Minh also called upon regional countries to improve information sharing and unite their efforts in their campaign against the remnants of the LRA in their respective territories.

At another UNSC session on the Madagascar situation the same day, the Vietnamese representative called on the concerned parties in the country to put their national interest first to solve their disputes peacefully and fully enforce the Maputo Agreement and the power-sharing accord signed on November 6, 2009 for the early establishment of a national solidarity government.

Ambassador Minh spoke highly of mediation efforts made by the African Union, the South African Development Community and Francophonie in Madagascar and asked those organisations to increase their coordination with the UN to help Madagascar go through the transitional period smoothly and make necessary preparations for the upcoming presidential election./.