U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 253
13 - 19 November 2004


CONTENTS:

GREAT LAKES: Regional leaders meet to sign declaration of peace
AFRICA: Global Fund approves funding proposals for AIDS, malaria and TB
KENYA-SUDAN: Security Council demands immediate end to violence
BURUNDI: Referendum postponed to 22 December
RWANDA: World Bank gives US $50 million for poverty reduction
UGANDA: Government orders unilateral truce in the north


ALSO SEE:

IRIN interview with Rodolphe Adada, foreign minister to the Republic of 
Congo Full 
report

IRIN Interview with Anne Leahy, Canadian Ambassador to the Great Lakes Full report

Peace continues to elude region as humanitarians seek US $102.32 million 
for 2005 projects
Full report


GREAT LAKES: Regional leaders meet to sign declaration of peace

Following months of preliminary meetings with national delegations, heads 
of state in and around the war-ravaged, Great Lakes region met in Dar es 
Salaam on Friday in what is touted as the first summit of its kind.

"At last a glimmer of hope," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a 
speech at the summit. "The regions leaders have made a strategic decision 
to pursue peace."

On Saturday, the summit ends with the signing of the Dar es Salaam 
Declaration for Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great 
Lakes region. The final draft of the declaration was already approved on 
Thursday by the foreign ministers of the 11 core countries.

The ministers began their two-day meeting to prepare for the summit. They 
were drawn from the core countries of the International Conference on the 
Great Lakes Region, an initiative of the UN and the African Union that is 
aimed at finding a lasting solution to the region's social and political 
problems. [On the Net: GREAT LAKES: Foreign ministers meet to prepare for 
regional conference

Full report

GREAT LAKES: 
Foreign ministers meet to prepare for regional conference


AFRICA: Global Fund approves funding proposals for AIDS, malaria and TB

The Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) approved 
on Thursday the fifth round of funding proposals to combat the three 
diseases.

The decision was made after a two-day, closed-door meeting of the Global 
Fund's Board in Arusha, Tanzania. Presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri 
Museveni of Uganda and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania attended the meeting 
that opened on Wednesday.

Previously, there had been uncertainty about the fifth round of funding, 
with some donors adopting a hardline stance towards continued funding. 
Some of the donors favoured the establishment of bilateral arrangements 
with the countries the Global Fund supports.

An officer with the Global Fund, Jon Liden, said the applications for 
funding would be received in March and would be considered for approval by 
the board in September.

Full report


KENYA-SUDAN: Security Council demands immediate end to violence

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday demanding that the 
Sudanese government, rebel forces and other armed groups in the western 
region of Darfur cease all violence and ensure that their members comply 
with international humanitarian law.

Adopting resolution number 1574, the Council - which held a special 
session on Sudan in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Thursday and Friday - 
endorsed the commitment of the government and the rebel Sudan People's 
Liberation Army Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to reach a final peace agreement on 
the conflict in the south soon.

The SPLM/A and the government had signed a memorandum of understanding on 
Friday under which they undertook to conclude and sign a final pact to end 
more than two decades of civil war in southern Sudan not later than 31 
December 2004.

Full report

SUDAN: Government, SPLM/A sign memorandum of understanding


BURUNDI: Referendum postponed to 22 December

A referendum on Burundi's post-transition constitution will now be held on 
22 December, and not 26 November as earlier scheduled, Paul Ngarambe, 
chairman the National Independent Electoral Commission, announced on 
Wednesday in Bujumbura, the capital.

He said the measure had been taken because ballot boxes, ink, polling 
booths and even electoral cards were not available. However, he said the 
postponement would not affect the timetable for other elections due in 
early 2005. Local elections are scheduled for February, legislative 
elections in March and the presidential poll in April.

He said the dates for these elections could only change depending on the 
electoral code and communal law, yet to be adopted by parliament.

Full report


RWANDA: World Bank gives US $50 million for poverty reduction

Rwanda received a grant of $50 million from the World Bank on Tuesday to 
help implement programmes aimed at cutting the high poverty levels faced 
by millions of people in the country.

The bank also gave Rwanda a $15-million credit with a 40-year maturity 
period, which includes a 10-year grace time.

The World Bank country director for south-central Africa and the Great 
Lakes region, Emmanuel Mbi, said in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on behalf 
of the two parties, that the money would help stabilise Rwanda's 
macroeconomic framework and foster a favourable private sector investment 
climate, in addition to promoting exports.

Rwanda's poverty reduction programme, designed in 2002, aims to increase 
GDP per capita from $230 to $900, thus bringing Rwanda's 60 percent 
poverty rate - from a population of 8.1 million people - to 25 percent. 
This would also increase literacy rates from 48 percent of the population 
to 90 percent.

Full report


UGANDA: Government orders unilateral truce in the north

The Ugandan government announced on Sunday a unilateral one-week cessation 
of the military offensive against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army in 
the country's northern region, a move that could help end one of Africa's 
most brutal conflicts. The truce took effect on Monday.

The measure was announced in a statement released by the Office of The 
President. "What the president has announced is a breathing space for 
rebels to consult on his offer because they have indicated that they have 
not had time to consult," Onapito Ekomoloit, President Yoweri Museveni's 
press secretary, told IRIN.

Museveni, he added, had agreed to suspend operations in particular areas 
of the region - some of which go up to the border with Sudan - so the 
rebels could find a meeting point.

Full report


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