South Sudan to host regional peace and security conference
The transitional unity government has satisfactorily completed preparation to host the first International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) slated for 31st.
John Agany Deng, Spokesperson of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) said that the ICGLR conference to be held under the theme “Parliamentary Diplomacy for Conflict Resolution in The Great Lakes Region” will be attended by 11 speakers of parliaments from the region.
“Preparations started since 22nd March, the secretariat of ICGLR arrived here on 22nd of this month and they have finished their secretariat work,” Agany told The Juba Echo in an interview on Tuesday.
He said the conference that ends on 4th April will be opened by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Agany said the Speakers of parliaments in Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda among others will participate in the summit.
“The speakers will begin to arrive on the 30th of this month and after that, they will have an opening session and on the same day they will go for their conference which in fact will disclose the items they need to discuss in the Great Lakes Region,” he said.
Agany said the forum will hold discussions around critical issues such as politics and the performance of assemblies of the Great Lakes region.
“There are some topics which are not yet revealed to be discussed but in fact, I think it is around political issues and performance of the assemblies and African issues will be discussed,” he said.
In April 2022, the ICGLR in their session in Nairobi endorsed South Sudan to host a plenary assembly this year.
The ICGLR is an inter-governmental organization of the countries in the African Great Lakes Region. Its establishment was based on the recognition that political instability and conflicts in these countries have a considerable regional dimension and thus require a concerted effort in order to promote sustainable peace and development.
The organization is composed of twelve member states, namely: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
