Africa-Press – Angola. The joint efforts of the Angolan Government and the United Nations to promote peace, stability and security in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were under analysis, this Monday, in Luanda, in an audience that the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, granted to the under-secretary general for Peace Operations of this organization, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting, the senior official at the service of the UN said that Angola, within the scope of the implementation of the Roadmap of Luanda for the pacification of the DRC, is a partner of great importance.
“We are also talking about Angola’s initiative to deploy a military contingent of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) in this country, with the aim of supervising the cantonment of members of the M-23 armed group”, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, having considered the initiative very positive. .
The DRC is a member country of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL) and is currently experiencing an armed conflict motivated by political differences that has claimed human victims and created an undetermined number of refugees to neighboring countries.
In this context, the Angolan mediation of the conflict in the east of the DRC, in its capacity as President of the CIRGL, resulted in a cease-fire agreement, since the 7th of last March.
Thus, Angola plans to send a contingent of 500 FAA soldiers to the DRC to support the peacekeeping process, which should remain in that country for 12 months, made up of a battalion and respective components.
In this context, he said that the United Nations is available to contribute to the creation of the necessary conditions for the deployment of the Angolan military contingent.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix also explained that the moment also served to address the project on increasing Angola’s contribution to UN peacekeeping operations.
“It is a perspective that interests us a lot. We are interested in Angola contributing with military capacity and we are discussing various options with the country’s military and diplomatic authorities for this purpose”, she underlined.
Founded in October 1945, the UN is an intergovernmental organization created to promote and maintain international peace and security and to develop friendly relations among nations.
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