Special Envoy Said Djinnit meets with President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo on matters of security in the Great Lakes region

UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Said Djinnit (left), with President Denins Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo. Brazzaville, 2 August 2017

3 Aug 2017

Special Envoy Said Djinnit meets with President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo on matters of security in the Great Lakes region

Brazzaville (Rep. of Congo), 2 August 2017 – Said Djinnit, the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region met with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital, for discussions on security matters in the region. At the heart of these discussions were the preparations for the 8th Regional Oversight Mechanism, which will be held in Oyo, Republic of Congo, on 19 October 2017. The Regional Oversight Mechanism is the main oversight body under the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement. It meets once a year at Head of State and Government level to review progress on the implementation of the national and regional commitments under the Framework agreement by the signatory countries.
 
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), being at the center of the Framework agreement, the two officials agreed on the need for the United Nations and the African Union (AU) to take urgent action in their joint efforts to end insecurity in eastern DRC with the overall aim of bringing stability to the entire Great Lakes region.
 
President Sassou Nguesso also expressed his concern over the latest developments in the Kenyan elections, where the IT chief of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission responsible for ensuring a transparent voting system was murdered in Nairobi just one week before elections. The Special Envoy informed the President of the on-going efforts by the UN in Kenya to promote a peaceful electoral environment.
 
The Regional Oversight Mechanism has held seven high-level meetings to-date, including 26 May 2013 at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa; 23 September 2013 at the UN Headquarters in New York; 31 January 2014 at the AU Headquarters; 22 September 2014, on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York; 31 January 2015, on the margins of the 24th ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union, in Addis Ababa; 29 September 2015 on the sides of the UN General Assembly in New York; and 26 October 2016 in Luanda, Angola.