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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: MONUC's Swing hails new phase of improved relations

NAIROBI, 3 October 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Secretary-General’s special representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), William Swing, has hailed a new phase of improved relations among the countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa, following last week's high-level meeting convened by Kofi Annan to discuss the ongoing peace process in the Congo, the UN Department of Public Information reported.

Speaking at a news conference in New York on Wednesday, Swing said a declaration issued from Thursday's meeting among representatives from the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda had introduced "a phase in which we look forward to improving the neighbourhood, to improving good neighbourly relations" in the Great Lakes region.

He said the declaration was a substantial step forward in addressing the necessary confidence-building measures to develop a better understanding in the region, and that it had set the tone for an international conference being planned for the coming year to discuss peace, stability, development, and democracy in the region.

He said the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, had increased its multinational peacekeeping force from 8,700 to 10,800 troops, which would be split almost equally between Ituri District and the Kivu Provinces of the east, where much of the fighting had taken place, and where a good deal of violence was still occurring. He said the west, north, and central parts of the country were calm, and that MONUC had removed most of its troops from these areas.

Swing said that the country’s thousands of child soldiers were an ongoing concern for MONUC, and that the mission was dealing with the problem through its human rights and demobilisation programme, and via child protection officers posted throughout the country.

Asked about the sincerity of Congolese parties to the country's peace process, Swing said he had seen a great deal of improvement in Kinshasa, the capital, compared to two years ago when the country was at war, and when he was the US ambassador.

"Today, all those who were fighting are now in the same government," he said.

He added that the 500-member National Assembly and the 120-member Senate were functioning, and a council of ministers was meeting every week. Moreover, the Congolese flag was flying throughout the country, a single national currency was circulating, and the Congo River system had been reopened to commercial traffic.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance

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