‘Protect civilians in Great Lakes region’
NEW YORK: Kuwait has affirmed that protecting security in the Great Lakes region must be done through achieving political stability and ensuring a peaceful transition of power. The remarks were made by Kuwaiti Permanent Representative to the UN Headquarters in New York Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, during the UN Security Council (UNSC) session on the situation in the Great Lakes region late Tuesday. The worsening humanitarian conditions due to political tension and the spread of armed groups in the region is extremely worrying, he said. Al-Otaibi called for protecting civilians in these countries against forced immigration and prevent armed groups from escaping punishment.
Facing these challenges can only be achieved through joint cooperation between the region and the UN, the EU, the African Union and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, said the ambassador. Creating stability in the region will have a positive impact on nearby countries as well. It will boost development and security condition in Central Africa and the rest of the continent, AlOtaibi noted. He also spoke of the big role of UN missions in protecting peace and easing the suffering of civilians in the region, especially in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa and Burundi.
Meanwhile, Al-Otaibi said that the Framework of Hope, signed in 2013 to protect peace and security in these countries had entered its fifth year without any achievements. The numbers of refugees and displaced people had been rapidly rising and the number of people who were forced to leave their countries have reached 11 million until now, he added. The Kuwaiti official said the UN peacekeeping missions are also facing danger in these countries. In this context, the ambassador mentioned the December 2017 attack on the UN’s Tanzanian peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which left 15 dead and 53 others injured.
He hoped the upcoming Geneva donors conference for the Democratic Republic of the Congo tomorrow will help improve the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the country. As part of Kuwait’s chairmanship of the UNSC committee on sanctions against the Democratic Republic of the Congo established pursuant to resolution 1533, Al-Otaibi said that he has been pushing for boosting efforts to protect peace and security in the conflict-torn country, by cooperating with the committee’s members and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). — KUNA