Seminar on Regional Conflicts Opens in KenyaA seminar on preventing conflicts in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa, hosted by the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), opened on Wednesday.This is the first time for senior officials from all the seven member states of the IGAD, including Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia, to meet together to discuss how to secure permanent peace in the region, said Attallah Bashir, IGAD executive secretary, in his speech at the opening session. During the Khartoum Summit of the IGAD last November, the heads of states and governments of the member states agreed that a mechanism in the region should be established to prevent, manage and resolve inter-state and intra-state conflicts. They also asked the IGAD's executive secretary to prepare a draft protocol on the establishment of Conflict Early Warning and Response Network ( CEWARN). Bashir said that this protocol is expected to be endorsed by the summit in November this year, adding that top on the agenda of the seminar will also include the IGAD-sponsored peace process in Somalia and Sudan, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons as well as development of a culture of peace and tolerance. Bonaya Godana, the Kenyan minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said at the seminar that the search for long-term conflict resolution initiatives, such as the CEWARN, is of paramount importance to Africa's survival and sustained development. He said that Kenya, which is committed to the peace process for Sudan, will support an all-inclusive approach to the Somalia peace and reconciliation process and take strong measures to crack down on illegal trafficking of small arms and light weapons. |
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