Security Council Debate on the Situation in the Great Lakes Region: DRC and the Great Lakes, July 2013

Two significant regional meetings took place recently, with positive outcomes that I would like to share. The first was the regional consultation on women, peace, security and development in the Great Lakes Region, which I organized, in collaboration with Femmes Africa Solidarité and the ICGLR, from 9 to 11 July in Bujumbura, Burundi. More than 100 women leaders from signatory countries of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework attended the conference, including the Gender Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

I would like to add that all of our assistance will be informed by a gender perspective. We will provide additional resources for programmes to address sexual and gender-based violence, as well as assistance for basic health services for vulnerable women and children through networks of health centres. The economic empowerment of women, as well as the promotion and protection of their rights and increased voice, all have important roles in reducing violence. We will also expand our assistance for networks of regional public health laboratories to allow countries to develop and share specific expertise. That has been very successful to date. I am pleased to inform the Council that in two weeks our Board of Directors will consider the first project under the initiative, that is, the Rusumo Falls hydroelectric dam.

I will continue to encourage women-led initiatives in the region through the establishment of a communications platform, through which experts and donors could provide technical advice and funds to women's projects in support of the “framework of hope”.

I will soon come back to the Council with further elements for the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, which will be built on three critical pillars: political and security, humanitarian and development. Elements of this strategy will include sustained confidence-building measures among leaders in the region, joint efforts with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for MONUSCO and international partners to support the national dialogue process in Democratic Republic of the Congo; cross-border development projects, with a strong focus on civil society, youth and women's groups; and modalities to support difficult mediation, building on the Kampala dialogue, within the limits of my mandate, including strict compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Members will recall that I made it clear from the beginning that, as Special Envoy, I intended to implement a top-down and bottom-up comprehensive approach, whereby I will be working, on the one hand, with political leaders and, on the other, with the people of the region to encourage peace, security and development. It was important to listen to the Great Lakes women's perspectives on the peace process, as women represent the majority of the population of the region and are, together with children, the first victims of the ongoing conflict. I gave them the opportunity to suggest possible benchmarks and indicators, which were later submitted to the technical support committee for consideration.

Two significant regional meetings took place recently, with positive outcomes that I would like to share. The first was the regional consultation on women, peace, security and development in the Great Lakes Region, which I organized, in collaboration with Femmes Africa Solidarité and the ICGLR, from 9 to 11 July in Bujumbura, Burundi. More than 100 women leaders from signatory countries of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework attended the conference, including the Gender Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

Members will recall that I made it clear from the beginning that, as Special Envoy, I intended to implement a top-down and bottom-up comprehensive approach, whereby I will be working, on the one hand, with political leaders and, on the other, with the people of the region to encourage peace, security and development. It was important to listen to the Great Lakes women's perspectives on the peace process, as women represent the majority of the population of the region and are, together with children, the first victims of the ongoing conflict. I gave them the opportunity to suggest possible benchmarks and indicators, which were later submitted to the technical support committee for consideration.

I would like to add that all of our assistance will be informed by a gender perspective. We will provide additional resources for programmes to address sexual and gender-based violence, as well as assistance for basic health services for vulnerable women and children through networks of health centres. The economic empowerment of women, as well as the promotion and protection of their rights and increased voice, all have important roles in reducing violence. We will also expand our assistance for networks of regional public health laboratories to allow countries to develop and share specific expertise. That has been very successful to date. I am pleased to inform the Council that in two weeks our Board of Directors will consider the first project under the initiative, that is, the Rusumo Falls hydroelectric dam.

I would like to add that all of our assistance will be informed by a gender perspective. We will provide additional resources for programmes to address sexual and gender-based violence, as well as assistance for basic health services for vulnerable women and children through networks of health centres. The economic empowerment of women, as well as the promotion and protection of their rights and increased voice, all have important roles in reducing violence. We will also expand our assistance for networks of regional public health laboratories to allow countries to develop and share specific expertise. That has been very successful to date. I am pleased to inform the Council that in two weeks our Board of Directors will consider the first project under the initiative, that is, the Rusumo Falls hydroelectric dam.

I will soon come back to the Council with further elements for the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, which will be built on three critical pillars: political and security, humanitarian and development. Elements of this strategy will include sustained confidence-building measures among leaders in the region, joint efforts with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for MONUSCO and international partners to support the national dialogue process in Democratic Republic of the Congo; cross-border development projects, with a strong focus on civil society, youth and women's groups; and modalities to support difficult mediation, building on the Kampala dialogue, within the limits of my mandate, including strict compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.