Rwanda To Host Meeting on Post-Conflict Peace Building

The Government of Rwanda, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the U.N. Peace Building Commission(PBC) will host a high level event on post-conflict peace building.

The meeting will draw Rwanda’s experience in addressing some of the critical challenges the country faced following the genocide in 1994.

Expected to participate in the meeting on November 8 to 9, 2011, is the leadership of the six countries currently on the UN Peace Building Commission (PBC) agenda.

Countries will include Burundi, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Others include four countries emerging from conflict Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, South Sudan and Timor Leste as well as the Chairs of the UN Peace building Commission (PBC) Country Configurations.

Countries whose top leadership is confirmed so far at the Kigali meeting are South Sudan, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, and Timor Leste.

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the upcoming meeting was aimed at enhancing the ongoing global dialogue on peace building, and getting Africa to be a more important contributor to the process.

“We look forward to sharing innovations that have delivered good results for Rwanda in building lasting peace and development, as well as some of the challenges we have faced in the last 17 years”

“We are also very eager to hear about the experiences of other countries, in order to make our modest contribution in support of global nation building,”Mushikiwabo said.

The meeting will reflect on Rwanda’s journey towards reconciliation, reconstruction and development, with a focus on leadership and national ownership; innovative approaches to reconciliation and socioeconomic development; and the strategic use of aid, as the key drivers.

Rwanda is the current Chair of the PBC, represented by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

This comes at a time when Rwanda has accumulated a wide range of experience in peace building from the perspective of a post-conflict country as well as contributor to UN peace building missions.

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