The Netherlands has pledged to contribute
100 million dollars to an international trust fund for the Great Lakes
Region in Africa. The purpose of the fund will be to promote disarmament
and the return of soldiers and rebels to their homes. Dutch Minister for
Development Cooperation Eveline Herfkens announced the contribution in
the course of the visit she is currently making to the Great Lakes Region
together with her British and Norwegian counterparts. Other donors and
international institutions have also pledged contributions to the fund,
set up by the World Bank.
The war-torn region includes the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda: an area two-thirds the size
of the European Union with a population of approximately 50 million. The
World Bank estimates that between a million and a half and three million
people have died in the region since 1997 as a result of conflict; some
200,000 of them were direct victims of the hostilities. The infrastructure
of the countries involved, including the transport systems, has also suffered
considerable damage from the perpetual fighting.
Help with disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration is needed to supplement the current political efforts and peace enforcement activities. The programmes to be financed under the new fund will also encourage the relevant governments and other conflicting parties to expedite the peace process in the region.
The World Bank estimates that it needs 300 million dollars for the fund. Its contribution of 100 million dollars makes the Netherlands the largest donor.
Minister for Development Cooperation Eveline Herfkens is currently visiting the region together with her English and Norwegian counterparts, Clare Short and Hilde Johnson. They are holding talks with President Kabila of the DR Congo, RCD-Goma leader Adolphe Onusumba, President Kagame of Rwanda, President Museveni of Uganda and Vice-President Ndayizeye of Burundi. The purpose of the visit is to assist progress in the region and to discuss longer-term prospects for development and the use of the World Bank's new fund.