Great Lakes Regional Leaders to get rid of Negative Forces and Illegal Armed Groups in the region

The Great Lakes Region had been long known for being a zone of conflicts but the trend has changed lately and it is slowly but surely returning to peace, stability and development. More and more development projects

are taking off in most countries and regional consultations to warm up state-to-state relations and dialogue between former enemies continues.

However, the presence of the ‘negative forces’ and illegal armed groups in the region particularly in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and Sudan remains a major impediment to sustainable stability in the region. 

Those forces include among others the Forces for the Defence and Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwanda Rebel group operating in Eastern DRC and the Diaspora, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) a Ugandan armed rebel group now operating in DRC, Sudan and Central African Republic as well as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), another Ugandan armed rebel group operating in the Ituri province of DRC.

As the spirit of tackling issues as a region continues to take center stage, the ICGLR Secretariat is organizing a Regional Meeting of Ministers of Defence and Security on the problem of Negatives Forces in the region, to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, September 9th, 2011. 

The meeting is being organized in collaboration with the Nairobi based Regional Centre for Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), and follows a decision reached during the recent meeting of the ICGLR Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee (RIMC), held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in May 2011. 

The Ministers’ meeting will be preceded by a two day meeting of experts who will prepare necessary documents for the Ministers’ consideration.

The meeting of Ministers seeks to share important information and exchange views on the nefarious activities of the negative forces and other armed groups, make deep analysis of the situation on the ground, and design a lasting solutions to the problem in line with the ICGLR Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes region, and other regional and international instruments. 

It also seeks to assess progress made in combating the negative forces through the various bilateral and

regional initiatives undertaken to deal with the negative forces and outline the challenges; to deliberate on the strategies that will enhance the capabilities of the Region to effectively fight against the negative forces; to receive and consider the Best Practice Guidelines on Practical Disarmament for the Great Lakes Region and

Horn of Africa, developed by the Regional Centre for Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), and to agree on a plan of action for effectively dealing with negative forces in the region.

The ministers will also discuss the role of security organs in the initiative to fight illegal exploitation of Natural Resources in the Great Lakes Region and strengthen cooperation in the efforts to deal with the threat of terrorism (the terrorist threat posed by of Al-Shabab in particular).

As research has shown, the negatives forces have contributed to the increase of sexual and gender-based violence while the illegal exploitation of natural resources continues to fund conflict in the region.

The meeting is seen as a crucial step forward as the region seeks to consolidate recent gains realized in the search for peace and security, with the conclusion of Peace Agreements in DRC and Burundi as well as the normalization of bilateral relations between Rwanda and DRC. 

The meeting is expected to come up with suitable recommendations for consideration by the ICGLR Ordinary Summit of the Heads of States and Government scheduled to take place on 15th December 2011 in Kampala,Uganda.

Apart from the officials from the eleven Member States of the ICGLR, representatives of the Regional Centre on Small Arms, Regional Economic Communities, the Community of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), Representatives from African Union (AU), the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Congo (MONUSCO), the USA Government and European Union (Co- Chair of the International Working Group on negative forces in the Great Lakes Region) will also participate in the meeting.