Africa-Press – Angola. The Chief of the General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), General of Aviation Altino Carlos José dos Santos, participated, on Friday, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the Meeting of Chiefs of Staff/Commanders of Defense of the Quadripartite Mechanism on Coordination and Harmonization of Peace Initiatives in Eastern DRC, held at the headquarters of the African Union (AU).
Held at the invitation of the President of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, the meeting was chaired by the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye.
The event praised the concerted efforts of the Angolan Head of State, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, as President of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa and mediator between DRC and Rwanda , and the President of the Republic of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, in order to facilitate dialogue aimed at easing tension between the DRC and the Republic of Rwanda and reestablishing a climate of good neighborliness.
He also highlighted the former Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as a facilitator of the East African Community (EAC) for the DRC, for his efforts towards peace since his appointment.
At the meeting in which the Angolan delegation was made up of the ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, Miguel César Domingos Bembe, General Officers of the General Staff of the FAA and officials of the External Intelligence Service (SIE), it was emphasized the need to continue the path of dialogue, aligned with regional efforts under the auspices of CAO and CIRGL, provided for in the Luanda and Nairobi Roadmaps.
The forum called on the AU to immediately operationalize the Multi-Level Coordination Working Group, consisting of representatives from the DRC and Rwanda, the AU, the representatives of the EAC, the CIRGL, the Economic Community of Central African States (EEACS), of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as by the United Nations (UN), following the Decision approved by the First Quadripartite Summit, held last June in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
He welcomed the progress made in preparing pre-cantonment sites for the disarmament of the M23 and highlighted the need to finalize the process.
He considered existing verification mechanisms crucial and encouraged them to join the Joint Operations Center (COC), created by the DRC, in order to reinforce coordination and harmonization for effective information sharing.
On the sidelines of the meeting’s work, Aviation General Altino Carlos José dos Santos~, who is also the President of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the CIRGL, and Ambassador Miguel Bembe held a meeting with the Commander of the Mission of Stabilization of the United Nations in the DRC (MONUSCO), Brazilian Lieutenant General Otávio Rodrigues de Miranda Filho.
The Joint Framework on the Coordination and Harmonization of Peace Initiatives in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was adopted on 27 June this year, in Luanda, by the CAO, CIRGL, CEEAC, SADC and the UN, under the auspices of the UA.
It is based on the most relevant decisions of the African Union bodies (AU Assembly and Peace and Security Council), as well as on the decisions of the EAC, CEEAC, CIRGL and SADC and fully recognizes the results achieved by the various peace initiatives of the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms, of countries in the region, the AU and the UN in promoting peace, security, stability and development in the DRC.
The quadripartite is a platform to facilitate the coordination and harmonization of existing initiatives in Eastern DRC.
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