I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to the letter dated 15 December 2005 (S/2005/794) addressed to me from the President of the Security Council. In my last report to the Council on the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, issued on 17 November 2003 (S/2003/1099), the preparatory process for the International Conference was described, including its objectives, participation and structure. Since that report, there have been major developments regarding the International Conference, including the successful organization of the first Summit of Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region in Dar-es-Salaam, on 19 and 20 December 2004; increased political dialogue between the countries of the region, chiefly as a result of the platform provided and the momentum achieved by the International Conference; and preparations regarding the proposed Security, Stability and Development Pact. The second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the International Conference, which was scheduled to take place in December 2005 in Nairobi, was postponed. The reasons for the postponement are outlined in paragraphs 54 to 57 below.
2. The present report comprises six sections, which discuss: the outcomes of the Dar-es-Salaam Summit and the directives of the Heads of State and Government of the Great Lakes region for the preparation of the Security, Stability and Development Pact, expected to be signed at the second Summit (sect. II); the political and technical framework as well as on the timeline for the preparation of the proposed Pact (sect. III); the major components of the draft pact (sect. IV); the benefits of the International Conference (sect. V); the implications of the postponement of the Nairobi Summit (sect. VI); and observations and recommendations on the way forward (sect. VII).
II. Dar-es-Salaam Summit
3. The preparatory process for the International Conference began in Nairobi in June 2003 with the first meeting of the national coordinators of the then six members (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania). It continued through the second half of 2003 and through 2004, during which time agreement was reached on the priority themes and on the political and technical frameworks of the Conference, the calendar of activities and the process leading to the first Summit. The period was also used for the formation, in December 2003, of the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region, consisting of 28 countries, mainly from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but which also included three African countries (Gabon, Nigeria and South Africa) and 10 international organizations. The Group of Friends provides a functional link between the Conference process and the partners supporting it politically, financially and technically.
4. During this period, the United Nations and the African Union held region-wide consultations with the core countries of the Regional Preparatory Committee, as well as with key stakeholders, including African subregional organizations, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), women, youth, regional nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, parliamentarians and trade unions, in order to reflect the inclusiveness of the Conference process. Those consultations and meetings were aimed at ensuring the ownership of the process by the core countries and also at making sure that all the issues within the four themes of the International Conference (peace and security; democracy and good governance; economic development and regional integration; and humanitarian and social issues) were adequately discussed and interlinked through a common regional and practical approach. The draft of the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration, which takes account of these substantive consultations, was also negotiated and agreed upon.
5. By consensus of the participating States, a seventh member, Zambia, was added. However, a serious crisis over its membership had to be overcome when four among the co-opted countries, Angola, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo and the Sudan, subsequently asked to join the Conference as full members. It took considerable time and effort by Conference members, the United Nations, the African Union and other stakeholders to achieve a breakthrough in time for these four countries to be admitted and to attend the first summit. 6. The first Summit of Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, which took place in Dar-es-Salaam on 19 and 20 November 2004, marked the end of the first phase of the Conference process. The Summit, in which the Chairperson of the African Union and I participated as coordinators on behalf of the African Union and the United Nations, was attended by all 11 core countries (Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Rwanda, the Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia) at the Heads of State and Government level. Other Heads of State and representatives of co-opted members (including Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe), together with the President of South Africa, representatives of the Group of Friends, international and regional partners and observers also attended. In Dar-es-Salaam, the member countries adopted a Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region, now commonly known as the Dar-es- Salaam Declaration.
7. The Dar-es-Salaam Declaration constitutes a landmark for the Great Lakes region. It is the first regional and comprehensive political document in which all the leaders jointly commit to transforming the Great Lakes region into an area of peace, security and development and set out a vision and a road map for the future.
8. The Declaration contains policy priorities and guiding principles in key areas of the four themes of the International Conference: peace and security; democracy and good governance; economic development and regional integration; and humanitarian and social issues. The policies range from security at the common borders and region-wide to small arms control, from adherence to international conventions on human rights to ending impunity and promotion of good governance, from sustainable integrated economic development to the fight against plundering of resources and corruption, and from combating sexual violence to finding sustainable solutions to the protracted problems of refugees and internally displaced persons.
9. The Declaration also sets guidelines on the protocols and programmes of action of what is to become the legally binding Security, Stability and Development Pact to be submitted for adoption at the second Summit of the Conference in Nairobi.
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