Statement by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador João Genésio de Almeida Filho, at the UNSC Briefing and Consultations on the Great Lakes Region - April 19th, 2023

The Brazilian delegation is grateful to Special Envoy Huang Xia and to Ambassador Ivan Shimonovic for their informative briefings. I welcome to this meeting the delegations os Rwanda, Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We have followed the latest developments in the Great Lakes region closely and the security situation remains a matter of great concern to us. The threat posed by armed groups to the countries of the Great Lakes region is still palpable, as a series of events in the Secretary-General’s report have demonstrated.

The increase in the activity of armed groups – which we have witnessed in the region in recent months – has a devastating impact on local communities and millions of refugees and internally displaced persons from various perspectives, ranging from human rights to economic development and also represents a threat to the lives of peacekeepers who are on the ground.

The activities of those groups often lead to sexual violence, lack of access to humanitarian aid, recruitment of children in armed conflict and illicit exploitation of natural resources, and jeopardise the current efforts to reach sustained peace.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, we would like to praise all the advancements made by the DRC and of signatory countries on the implementation of its commitments, as well as of the work of guarantor institutions. We are hopeful that the next meeting of the Oversight Mechanism of the Framework, which will take place next May in Bujumbura, will shed some light on the best path ahead to address the serious security and humanitarian crisis facing the region. We would also like to commend all the regional efforts in this regard.      

Such efforts deserve our encouragement and full support. In that sense, we wish to commend the leading and constructive role played by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the East African Community. We would like to praise the mediation efforts carried out by Angola, and Kenya in the Luanda and Nairobi processes.

It is crucial that all parties take concrete steps to implement the recommendations agreed upon under the auspices of the aid processes. In such a challenging regional scene, we can never overemphasise the importance of adopting confidence-building measures to restore trust and bring the peace process back to the right track

Madame President,

Aiming at protecting the achievements of the ongoing peace process, it is imperative to expedite the implementation of the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (D.D.R.) programmes. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the reintegration pillar and to ensure that former combatants, women and youth have access to economic opportunities that provide them with the tools to improve their livelihoods.

In this vein, we would like to voice support to the work of the Special Envoy and highlight the contribution of the UN Strategy for Peace Consolidation, Conflict Prevention and Conflict Resolution in the Great Lakes Region in bringing coherence and comprehensiveness to the peacebuilding initiatives.

We also wish to underscore the importance of national ownership to attaining lasting peace and prosperity in the region and, in that sense, we want to welcome and echo the Peacebuilding Commission advice in favour of support to the countries of the Great Lakes in the promotion of regional economic and financial integration and its contribution to sustainable development. This is a fundamental step in order to build peace.

Finally, we call upon all States in the region to persevere in the path of an inclusive political dialogue. No durable solution can be found without meaningful participation of all stakeholders, including women and youth.

And I thank you, Madame President.