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• MaximsNews: Statements by U.N. Diplomats •
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com, UN/ - 23 December 2006 -- Statement by
Ambassador
John McNee New York, 20 December 2006 Mr President, I speak on behalf of the Canadian and Netherlands, Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region. The Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region and the Declaration on the Implementation of the Pact, both signed in Nairobi on December 15 inaugurate a new era of cooperation in the Great Lakes Region. In this context, I thank you for having organized this meeting. The Member Sates will drive the implementation of all the integral parts of the Pact. A key element of their full ownership of this unprecedented endeavour is the creation of the first coordination mechanism for the Great Lakes region. We congratulate Burundi, chosen to host the seat of the Follow-Up Mechanism and we warmly congratulate Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, chosen on behalf of Tanzania as Executive Secretary to head this new mechanism. The set-up of the Secretariat in its initial months will be full of expectation and challenging as well. For this reason, as it stated at the opening of the Summit, the Group of Friends will extend its financial support for a six-month transition period as core countries takeover Secretariat functions for the Conference and consolidate their National Coordination mechanisms. The Group of Friends supports the request initially made by Tanzania on behalf of the countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region for an extension of three months up to March 31 2007 of the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes. This is to facilitate the transition from the Joint AU-UN Secretariat to the new Secretariat of the countries of the ICGLR. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Joint UN-AU Secretariat and its team of experts under the leadership of Prof. Ibrahima Fall for their unflagging commitment and contribution to the success of the Conference. On behalf of Canada, I wish to indicate that my country also supports the call made in the Declaration on Implementation of the Pact in paragraph 9. We believe that the United Nations and the African Union should extend its support to the newly created Secretariat over the coming year. Thank you. _______________________________________________________ ~~~~~~ MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the U.N., provides commentary and analysis from leading world figures: King Abdullah II (Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb. Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Susan Roosevelt Weld, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer, Kerry Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen. Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori (Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Mehri Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt, Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Rory O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and others.
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