Officials from 11 African countries are meeting in Kigali for consultations that seek to find a lasting solution for security issues on the continent, especially Central Africa.
The consultations of representatives of countries in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) are part of the 56th Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, which will be concluded on Friday.
The five-day meeting, themed "Prevention and response to unconstitutional changes in Central Africa,” will chart ways to solve current security issues.
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It convenes at the backdrop of the war in eastern DR Congo, and August coup in Gabon and among other threats to regional security.
"The meeting will also look at how to prevent unconstitutional changes of governments, as well as issues of children’s rights in wartime and climate change effects, among others,” said Amb. Guillaume Kavaruganda, the Director-General of Europe, Americas and International Organisations at Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Rwanda wants peace and security in the region, because countries and people can trade and cooperate with each other when there is peace. During this meeting every country will present its own security situation and we shall discuss the solutions together,” he said.
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Kavaruganda added that theirs is a technical meeting which will come up with recommendations to be presented before the ministers on Friday.
"The ministers will take appropriate measures, but we are there to advise them,” he said.
The ECCASS is made up of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, DR Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, and Chad.
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Kavaruganda said the countries, like the Central African Republic (CAR) where Rwanda has troops, are starting to emerge from crises.