{{U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Russell D. Feingold visited Kigali on September 7-8. }}
He, together with the U.N. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Mary Robinson, Koen Vervaeke, EU Special Representative to the African Union, and Boubacar Diarra, Special Representative of the African Union Chairperson for the Great Lakes Region, met with Rwandan government officials, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, on Saturday, September 7, to discuss issues of concern in the Great Lakes region, specifically the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
They also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center to pay their respects to the victims who perished in the 1994 genocide. Following his trip to Rwanda, Special Envoy Feingold continued on to Burundi for meetings with the Government of Burundi, and will conclude his trip in Ethiopia for consultations with the African Union.
At the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center on Saturday, Feingold, Robinson and the rest of the delegation placed wreaths at one of the graves of genocide victims, and toured the Center’s museum, while also taking time to reflect and remember.
This visit was Special Envoy Feingold’s first to the region in his new capacity, and follows on multiple trips during his tenure as a U.S. Senator. “This trip deepened my understanding of the complexities of the region,” Special Envoy Feingold said, “I am so impressed with the region’s obvious potential, but this conflict must be resolved for it to be realized.”
Feingold was appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy in July 2013. Having served on and led the U.S. Senate Africa Subcommittee for 18 years, including numerous trips to the continent, he will work closely with Secretary of State John Kerry, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and other international leaders to find a path to lasting peace and economic prosperity in the long-troubled Great Lakes region.
“I want to emphasize that the stakes in this part of the world are very significant, and it is absolutely vital that we do everything possible in order to move things in the right direction,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at the time of the Special Envoy’s appointment, “And I can’t think of anybody better than Russ Feingold to take on the challenge.”
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