Tag: GreatLakesNews

The East African Community (EAC) is beefing up its Early Warning Unit and mediation capacity in an effort to improve regional peace and security mechanisms; a top official of the bloc has informed.

The community’s Deputy Secretary General charged with Political Federation affairs, Dr Julius Tangus Rotich, said this was prompted by greater attention in the follow up of issues related and gains achieved in the promotion of democracy, good governance, the rule of law as well as protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

He said this while opening a three-day quarterly technical meeting between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities held in Arusha recently. The conference discussed operationalisation of Africa’s early warning systems.

“Your meeting is taking place amid increased new peace and security challenges in the EAC region. Terrorism, human and illicit drugs trafficking, ethnic and inter-communal violence, religious tensions, piracy and money laundering are rising to alarming levels.

The effects of climate change with its negative impacts on food security and resource scarcity have their own toll in this grim picture.

Your combined work with other stakeholders is expected to help curtail the negative effects of these vices,” he told the conference.

These challenges, he said, were exacerbated by consolidation of the Customs Union to turn the region into a single customs territory and the implementation of the Common Market Protocol to ensure free movement of people, labour, services and capital as well as protection of cross-border investment.

However, security challenges were not a preserve of East Africa alone. “The continent has, in the past two years, seen some of the worst peace and security challenges, mostly is the so-called “Arab Spring,” said Dr Rotich.

“The ramifications and spill over of these crises, combined with the effects of the international economic crisis, are aggravating new peace and security concerns on the continent.”

The situation, he said, had necessitated harmonisation and co-ordination, as required in the Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation in the area of peace and security between the AU, the Regional Economic Communities and the Co-ordinating Mechanisms of the Regional Standby Brigades of eastern and northern Africa.

Regular meetings are therefore held to review progress toward the operationalisation of the early warning systems and to share and exchange information as well as knowledge, lessons learned and best practices.

The meetings also provide a forum to develop co-ordinated strategies, to train together, enhance mutual capacities with a view to promote and maintain peace, security and stability on the continent.

The overall aim of all these efforts is to help anticipate and prevent conflicts within and among the member states of the African Union, informed Dr Rotich.

This is the second time the EAC hosts the conference, the first time being in April 2009.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on the incoming Government and the international community to seize the chance to build a better future for the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was selected as President on Monday, marking the culmination of a series of landmark steps to bring an end to the country’s eight-year political transition.

Those other steps, over recent weeks, included the adoption of Somalia’s provisional constitution, the establishment of the New Federal Parliament and the appointment of that body’s Speaker.

“This is a great victory for the long-suffering Somali people,” said the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Shamsul Bari.

He added, “I am overjoyed to learn that Somalia’s parliamentarians have in a free, fair, transparent and orderly manner elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to serve as the country’s next President, putting in the meantime an end to a long transition period.”

Mr. Bari called on the forthcoming Government and the international community to “seize the opportunity to build a new Somalia where, among other things, the rule of law and the respect of human rights for all Somalis would be the milestones.”

He underscored that the new authorities can only win over the minds and hearts of the people by changing the way the country has been managed over the years without any rule of law and authority to turn to.

“They have a great momentum to reverse the situation by establishing in the minds of the people that the Government is accountable for their welfare, is aware of their human rights and basic needs and is keen to return human dignity back to them,” he said.

He also called for the development of a plan to provide the people with a clear picture of how the new authorities seek to improve the human rights situation in the country, adding that the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission under the provisional constitution would be “another important step forward.”

Mr. Bari, who undertook his ninth field visit to Kenya and Somalia from 3 to 7 September, called on the international community, including the United Nations, to muster significant financial and technical resources in a collective effort to help build a new Somalia.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

Congolese working in Rwanda regret the closure of the border between the two countries every day from 6 pm to 6 am.

However, the provincial governor said he made ​​the decision for safety reasons.

The new measure sometimes prevents Congolese workers from returning home, forcing them to spend the night on the Rwandan territory.

A Congolese professor at the Technical School Gatumba, Rwanda, said:
“We who are on the ground, we suffer a lot. Classes end at 4:30 p.m. ‘.

We take a bus to Gisenyi-Gatumba. We dont beat the deadline. In this case, we have to spend money to rent a hotel room.

On the Rwandan side, the measure is received with less difficulty.

“Personally, I do not have problems because I always return home to Rwanda before 18h,” says a Rwandan, vendor.

The Rapporteur-General of the provincial coordination of North Kivu, Etienne Kambale, called the complainants to remain “calm”.

He said this decision was adopted on the basis of improvement of security situation in the province.

The UN Agency for Mine Action (UNMACC) conducted Friday, October 26 at the destruction of two hundred and forty-two weapons and light arms in Goma, North Kivu in DRC.

The ceremony was held at Camp MONUSCO disarmament in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Congo, Luba Alexander Ntambo.

According to the head of MONUSCO, Roger Meece, this was a breakthrough in the fight against insecurity in North Kivu.

According to the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN in the DRC, Roger Meece, the majority of these weapons were recovered from veterans Rwandan FDLR.

“It provides information on the success of joint efforts with the authorities of the FARDC, very long time, to encourage a large number of FDLR appear to be repatriated home and, at the same time, surrender their weapons to be destroyed,” he said.

For the UN Mission in the DRC, the destruction of weapons is a step towards the end of the threat posed by armed groups and others in the Eastern DRC.

“When we see the damage done by these weapons, I’m glad to see them destroyed,” said the UN official.

The section of Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Reinsertion and Reintegration (DDRRR) MONUSCO repatriated two thousand five hundred and forty-one former Rwandan combatants.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said Friday that Kenya is ready for Economic take-off.

Kibaki was addressing his top advisers on social and economic growth during the 30th National Economic and Social Council meeting.

He said the industrial take-off follows 10 years of investment in infrastructure and expansion of education.

“The country is at a stage where we need to take full advantage of the gains made in the past 10 years.” He said.

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and those of the Mission of the United Nations for Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO) launched on October 22, a new joint military operation called Taharazi (Alert) against armed groups operating in the territory of Fizi, in South Kivu province.

According to Felix Prosper Basse, military spokesman of MONUSCO, the main target of the campaign is a coalition of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the National Liberation Forces (FNL) and Mai Mai Yakutumba.

This operation is in its second phase and has allowed FARDC to stop 18 rebel elements, authors of abuses against civilians.

The South Kivu citizens believed that with this action, they will be able to back and indulge freely in their field of work and other social activities.

The 2nd Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Gender, Youth, Children, Social Protection, and Community Development is taking place 22 to 26 October 2012 at Snow Crest Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.

The Sectoral Council is considering, among others, the status of implementation of previous Decisions; the tools for mainstreaming gender into EAC policies and structures.

These tools include a Report of the Gender Audit for EAC together with the proposed Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and Action Plan, Training Manual and Guidelines for integrating Gender into EAC interventions.

In addition to these tools, there is also Gender Sensitive Outcome Indicators for the 4th EAC Development Strategy which were developed on the basis of the Gender Audit.

Since 2010, the EAC has been developing a comprehensive Social Development Framework in order to address cross-cutting social concerns for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

After various consultations at national and regional levels, the Final Draft Social Development Framework was completed and is being tabled before the 2nd meeting of the Sectoral Council.

The Sectoral Council is also considering a proposal for an increased budget for the Gender and Community Development Department. So as to implement the EAC Strategic Plan on Gender, Youth, Children, Persons with Disabilities, Social Protection and Community Development (2012-2016) together with the Policy on PWDs,

and to implement the Social Development Agenda for EAC, it is of paramount importance that the Sector receives substantial resources from Partner States while the Secretariat continues to mobilize other resources from Development Partners.