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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 23 May 2013 17:00:01 -0400
Subject: DR CONGO: IN GOMA, SECRETARY-GENERAL HAILS REGIONAL ACCORD AS
'BEST CHANCE FOR PEACE IN YEARS'
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org
DR CONGO: IN GOMA, SECRETARY-GENERAL HAILS REGIONAL ACCORD AS 'BEST
CHANCE FOR PEACE IN YEARS'New York, May 23 2013 5:00PMArriving today
in restive eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all the leaders of
Africa's Great Lakes region to throw their support behind a
recently-signed peace accord which aims to ensure security, as well as
development, for the long-troubled country.
"We have the best chance in many years to bring peace and calm to the
region," the UN chief said in Goma, eastern DRC's main city, in
proximity since Tuesday of renewed fighting between Government troops
(FARDC) and rebels from the 23 November Movement (M23).
"We are here to support the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework
for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region," the
Secretary-General said in
<"http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=2827">remarks to the
press following a visit to the Heal Africa hospital, which treats
victims of sexual violence. He was referring to landmark UN-brokered
11-nation accord that has been dubbed "the framework for hope" by Mary
Robinson, Mr. Ban's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes.
He said that the framework aimed to address the root causes of the
violence. In addition, the newly-deployed intervention brigade within
the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) is
designed to bring added stability and protect civilians. "But that is
only one element of a much larger political process. A peace deal must
deliver a peace dividend – health, education, jobs, opportunity."
Calling on the leaders of the region to back up the peace accord with
action and investment in "the people who have suffered so much,"
particularly women and girls, the UN chief also noted that today was
the first annual International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. Many of
the women and girls at Heal Africa suffered from fistula after
enduring brutal rapes, but also due to early pregnancy and a lack of
adequate healthcare.
With those factors contributing to some 40,000 cases of fistula alone,
the Secretary-General said, the situation was further evidence of the
need for holistic development. Education and healthcare were part of
the broader infrastructure of development that can bring progress and
hope to this "battered region," he said, hailing the commitment of Mr.
Kim and the World Bank, which earlier in the trip had announced a
pledge of $1 billion to promote development in the region.
Mr. Ban, who arrived in the DRC yesterday for talks with senior
Government officials in the capital, Kinshasa, was accompanied by Jim
Yong Kim, President of the World Bank and Ms. Robinson. After a stop
in Rwanda this afternoon, the officials will move on to Uganda and
will wind up their trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the African Union
summit.
Just ahead of the Secretary-General's arrival, Moustapha Soumaré, UN
Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC, called for all parties to
respect international humanitarian law after three people were killed
and 14 wounded yesterday by mortar shells fired into in a city
northwest of Goma.
According to a <"http://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/top-humanitarian-official-calls-protection-civilians">news
release from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), three shells exploded in the crowded neighbourhood of
Ndosho, killing three people and wounding another 10.
The explosions, which took place next to churches, provoked panic
among the population, causing many to flee towards downtown Goma in
search of safer haven. During the night, three shells also exploded
next to the Mugunga III internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, about
10 kilometres west of Goma and hosting 13,000 IDPs, wounding four
people and destroying several houses.
"I am very concerned with the developments yesterday in Goma" said Mr.
Soumaré, emphasizing that civilians were injured during military
operations because military positions and military activities are
taking place "too close to where civilian populations are located", in
violation of international humanitarian law. "I call on all parties
to take all measures necessary to avoid civilian casualties."
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) also issued a release
expressing deep concern about the incident and calling on all sides to
ensure the protection of civilians, including displaced persons.
As for the Secretary-General, later in the day the UN chief flew to
Kigali, where he met with senior Rwandan officials, including
President Paul Kagame. He also visited the Centre for Excellence for
the Fight against Violence against Women and Children.
He and Mr. Kim also
<"http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=6836">visited the
Gisozi genocide memorial site, where they laid wreaths in solemn
commemoration of the tragic 1994 event. Noting that it was his third
visit to the site, Mr. Ban said that the memorial served as both a
warning and a symbol of hope. While the international community had
failed Rwanda, the country had, in less than two decades, reconciled
and rebuilt.
"We want to see peace and development throughout the Great Lakes
region," the Secretary-General said, urging the international
community to build a world "where all live in security, dignity, proud
of who they are, wherever they are."May 23 2013 5:00PM
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