NAIROBI (Reuters) - Democratic progress in Burundi and Congo is helping stability in Africa's volatile Great Lakes region but the world must help build on early steps or risk a return to violence, the U.N. representative for the region said.
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"These political, peaceful and democratic transitions in Burundi and DRC are very helpful in creating a more conducive climate," said Ibrahima Fall, United Nations special representative for one of the world's most neglected and war-torn regions.
But the end of Burundi's civil conflict and the election of a new government last year must now be complemented with funds to build all sectors of society shattered by more than a decade of fighting that killed 300,000 people, he told Reuters.
"From one standpoint, the political transition has been a success. The other standpoint is 'what next?' in Burundi," Fall said at an interview in Nairobi late on Tuesday.
"Unless and until the international community puts enough resources -- together with the government -- to create conditions for peace dividends to be seen by the population, the fear is that the country can go again to insecurity."
Echoing calls by former rebel leader and now Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza for outside aid with the mammoth task of rebuilding the small central African nation, Fall added: "Every sector in that country is an urgent issue."
Regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the U.N. official said more peacekeepers were urgently needed to ensure the success of forthcoming elections intended to draw a line under the 1998-2003 civil war and its messy aftermath.
An estimated four million people have died in DRC.
CONGO "MIRACLE"
"We need more people," Fall said, applauding an agreement by the European Union (EU) this week to back up the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which at 17,000 personnel is the world body's largest anywhere.
"DRC is a big country, 2,345,000 sq km, it is quite as large as Western Europe," Fall said.
"So this idea of the largest U.N. mission in the world is somehow exaggerated. In numbers, yes. But in terms of density, if you compare the surface of the country and peacekeepers per square kilometer, it will certainly be the last."
Despite the enormity of the task of stabilizing DRC -- where 1,000 people still die every day from conflict-related causes -- just the fact that it was heading toward mid-year elections was itself grounds for optimism, Fall said.
"It is quite a miracle that those who were battling militarily in the field maybe two years ago have been since then in the same government and have been working together and now they are preparing for the general elections," he said.
However, he added: "Of course it is still very fragile."
Heads of state from 11 African countries around the Great Lakes region are due to meet in Nairobi later this year to develop a strategy for securing peace and rebuilding Great Lakes countries shattered by instability throughout the 1990s.
As well as the Burundi conflict, the Rwanda genocide in 1994, the Congo conflict which at one point drew in six foreign armies, and a proliferation of arms and rebel groups around the region, have all contributed to years of bloodshed, chaos and mass refugee movements for a region at Africa's heart.
But Fall said the 11 countries who make up the International Conference On the Great Lakes Region had been working since a 2004 meeting in Tanzania to achieve sustainable peace, political stability, and economic and social development.
"We need to go from firefighting to peace-building. This will need a kind of 'Marshall Plan' for the Great Lakes," he said. "And unless the international community, together with countries of the region, work closely to implement it, the risk is that the region goes back to instability and insecurity."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060215/wl_nm/africa_greatlakes_dc;_ylt=AoQ7aifpzYgWdPtGg6.YDzhvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
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"These political, peaceful and democratic transitions in Burundi and DRC are very helpful in creating a more conducive climate," said Ibrahima Fall, United Nations special representative for one of the world's most neglected and war-torn regions.
But the end of Burundi's civil conflict and the election of a new government last year must now be complemented with funds to build all sectors of society shattered by more than a decade of fighting that killed 300,000 people, he told Reuters.
"From one standpoint, the political transition has been a success. The other standpoint is 'what next?' in Burundi," Fall said at an interview in Nairobi late on Tuesday.
"Unless and until the international community puts enough resources -- together with the government -- to create conditions for peace dividends to be seen by the population, the fear is that the country can go again to insecurity."
Echoing calls by former rebel leader and now Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza for outside aid with the mammoth task of rebuilding the small central African nation, Fall added: "Every sector in that country is an urgent issue."
Regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the U.N. official said more peacekeepers were urgently needed to ensure the success of forthcoming elections intended to draw a line under the 1998-2003 civil war and its messy aftermath.
An estimated four million people have died in DRC.
CONGO "MIRACLE"
"We need more people," Fall said, applauding an agreement by the European Union (EU) this week to back up the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which at 17,000 personnel is the world body's largest anywhere.
"DRC is a big country, 2,345,000 sq km, it is quite as large as Western Europe," Fall said.
"So this idea of the largest U.N. mission in the world is somehow exaggerated. In numbers, yes. But in terms of density, if you compare the surface of the country and peacekeepers per square kilometer, it will certainly be the last."
Despite the enormity of the task of stabilizing DRC -- where 1,000 people still die every day from conflict-related causes -- just the fact that it was heading toward mid-year elections was itself grounds for optimism, Fall said.
"It is quite a miracle that those who were battling militarily in the field maybe two years ago have been since then in the same government and have been working together and now they are preparing for the general elections," he said.
However, he added: "Of course it is still very fragile."
Heads of state from 11 African countries around the Great Lakes region are due to meet in Nairobi later this year to develop a strategy for securing peace and rebuilding Great Lakes countries shattered by instability throughout the 1990s.
As well as the Burundi conflict, the Rwanda genocide in 1994, the Congo conflict which at one point drew in six foreign armies, and a proliferation of arms and rebel groups around the region, have all contributed to years of bloodshed, chaos and mass refugee movements for a region at Africa's heart.
But Fall said the 11 countries who make up the International Conference On the Great Lakes Region had been working since a 2004 meeting in Tanzania to achieve sustainable peace, political stability, and economic and social development.
"We need to go from firefighting to peace-building. This will need a kind of 'Marshall Plan' for the Great Lakes," he said. "And unless the international community, together with countries of the region, work closely to implement it, the risk is that the region goes back to instability and insecurity."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060215/wl_nm/africa_greatlakes_dc;_ylt=AoQ7aifpzYgWdPtGg6.YDzhvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--