Following a weeklong official visit to Africa by the United Nations Security Council representatives, the delegation has announced that regional security has improved. “From all the meetings in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the wider region, the mission had learned that the situation in the Great Lakes had improved, particularly as a result of the rapprochement between the Congolese and Rwandan Governments,” announced head of delegation John Sawers. According to him, the Security Council must now consider ways in which the relationship between the two countries could be sustained and the transformative potential of that cooperation could be realized and provide a peace dividend for civilians across the region. Turning to the mission’s activities in Rwanda, he said a Council mission had last visited the Great Lakes region in June 2008 during a time of relative calm. “Over the past year, however, conflict had escalated in the eastern DRC, leading to cooperation between the Governments of Rwanda and the DRC to address the shared problem of armed groups operating in the region,” said Sawers. “That decision had helped reshape the regional political landscape. The just-ended visit had afforded an opportunity for the Council to encourage both Governments to deepen their cooperation.” The delegation visited Rwanda two weeks ago and met with several government officials including President Paul Kagame , the Minister of Foreign Affairs Rosemary Museminali, and members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Rwanda. The 15 man delegation was made up of representatives from Austria, Burkina Faso, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Japan, Libya, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. The delegation also visited Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and met with African Union officials in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, about the crisis in Somalia and Sudan. Ends
