UN 7th Political Coordination meeting reviews situation in the Great Lakes region, seeks new ways to enhance collaboration between UN entities

The Office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes organized the 7th Political Coordination meeting in Nairobi on 5-6 March (UN Photo/Penangnini Toure)

5 Mar 2020

UN 7th Political Coordination meeting reviews situation in the Great Lakes region, seeks new ways to enhance collaboration between UN entities

Nairobi (Kenya), 5 March 2020 - The Office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes organized its 7th Political Coordination meeting in Nairobi on 5-6 March to review the political and security situation in the Great Lakes and arrive at a shared analysis of recent dynamics and trends in the region.

In a bid to reinforce their collaboration considering the recent positive momentum observed, participants also discussed ways to enhance concerted UN support through a clarification of roles and responsibilities of the different UN entities within the region.

The two-day event was chaired by Huang Xia, UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, and attended by UN Resident Coordinators -- or their representatives -- from Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as representatives from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Burundi, the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON).

The meeting sought to identify opportunities for enhanced UN regional cooperation and discussions were expected to provide insights that will be considered for the development of the UN regional strategy on the Great Lakes region. That effort is led by the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region.

Other major objectives of the meeting included discussion of priorities for enhanced UN efforts in support of peace regional relations as well as cross-border cooperation on political, security, economic and judicial matters; reviewing the UN narratives on the region and distilling key elements for consideration for the new UN strategy on the Great Lakes region.

Day one of the meeting had four sessions, namely key dynamics and trends in the Great Lakes region; priorities to support peaceful regional relations and political processes; priorities to advance security, economic and judicial cooperation; and women, youth and civil society. Day two discussed the UN development system reform; the peacebuilding Fund proposal on negative forces; the Great Lakes regional strategic framework; and directions for enhancing UN action in the region.

The Political Coordination meeting was established in 2016 and is convened on a biannual basis by the Office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region.

The Office was formed following an agreement brokered in 2013 by the United Nations and the African Union (AU), and signed by 13 countries, together with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).