Africa-Press – Angola. The United Nations (UN) recognized, this Monday (2), the efforts undertaken by Angola in the pacification process in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The sentiment was presented this Monday in Luanda to the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, by the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in CAR, Valentina Rugwabiza, during an audience granted by the Angolan statesman at the Presidential Palace, to the Upper City.
Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting, Valentina Rugwabiza, who has been in the country since Sunday afternoon, said that this was one of the points that most dominated the meeting with the President of the Republic.
“The reason for my visit to Angola was, essentially, to present the United Nations’ thanks to the Republic of Angola and to President João Lourenço for all that he has done for peace and stability in the Central African Republic, as well as to analyze the peace roadmap designed for that country”, he stressed.
The diplomat, of Rwandan nationality, said that she could not pass through Luanda without “giving this note” to President João Lourenço, given the “quite” commitment to stability in CAR, noting that Angola contributed significantly to the conclusion of the Roadmap for Peace in CAR, an instrument he considered “fundamental” to reach a peace agreement in the country.
“Angola has put great effort into the conclusion of this instrument”, he stressed. The UN Secretary-General’s special representative in CAR considered the current situation in that country as evolving, despite admitting the work that still has to be done for total pacification.
“At that moment, we are no longer at the initial stage of what was the process in the CAR. Today, the CAR is taking a different path, thanks to the Peace Roadmap designed. What we have to do, at this moment, is to continue working on that roadmap”, highlighted Valentina Rugwabiza, for whom it is still necessary to carry out the process of demobilization and reintegration of the forces that, in the past, “were in rebellion”. “It’s a process that we have to continue to follow and follow,” she clarified.
After assuming, in 2020, the Acting Presidency of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), President João Lourenço promoted, in Luanda, three mini-summits on the security situation in the Central African Republic, the second having concluded with the announcement, by the Angolan statesman, of the abandonment of the armed opposition from the path of war, to participate in the materialization of a serious process of disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and reintegration.
João Lourenço highlighted that, with this step, the conditions were met for the start of a new phase of pacification actions in the Central African Republic, with the Government of Touadera leading the conduct of all acts that lead to the effective implementation of the provisions stipulated in the Khartoum agreement.
“We are now facing the possibility of defining a framework, within which the mechanisms for implementing the understandings reached with the armed opposition must be put into action”, he stressed at the time.
Valentine Rugwabiza, who, before being received in Cidade Alta, passed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he met with the head of Angolan diplomacy, Téte António, succeeds Mankeur Ndiaye, from Senegal, who had led the mission since 2019. The diplomat worked for over 30 years on development and security issues in Africa, in both the public and corporate sectors.
In 2016, she served as Rwanda’s permanent representative to the United Nations and her country’s non-resident ambassador to Colombia and Jamaica. From 2014 to 2016, she was Minister for East African Community Affairs and member of the East African Legislative Assembly and from 2005 to 2013 Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
Previously, she was Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva and specialized United Nations agencies, as well as Rwanda’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation from 2002 to 2005.
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