GREAT LAKES: IRIN Interview with Anne Leahy, Canadian Ambassador to the Great Lakes

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

NAIROBI, 12 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Newly appointed Canadian Ambassador to the Great Lakes Anne Leahy has a key role in the UN and African Union (AU)-organised Great Lakes International Conference on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development, which is due to begin on Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Canada created and, along with the Netherlands, is co-chairing the so-called "Friends of the Great Lakes", a group of 28 member-states and 10 international organisations with a mandate to provide political, technical and financial support for the conference. IRIN interviewed Ambassador Leahy on 11 November in Nairobi. Below are the excerpts of that interview:

QUESTION: Why is this conference important?

ANSWER: This conference has everything it takes to become a forum to deal with the security issues and economic development in the region in an integrated manner. It is a mechanism [that not only provides for peace but] to attract investment and regional economic development.

Q: What can it achieve tangibly?

A: It is tangible just having [at the regional preparatory meetings] the national coordinator for the DRC and the national coordinator for Rwanda sitting shoulder to shoulder, with Uganda on other side, discussing the issues of territorial integrity, nonaggression and illegal exploration of natural resources. And discussing the issues in [a] rather frank manner and though they took 48 hours of hard drafting, they finally came up with something we can actually put forward to ministers. [From doing that], they must implicitly recognise their role [in the region’s conflicts] and what they can do to stop and improve the situation, whether through bilateral or trilateral measures.

The conference is a space where people [representing various countries and interest groups in the region] can talk together and put their issues on the table. You should have heard [at the Kampala preparatory meeting] representatives talking about the root causes of conflict in the region.

Q: And did they agree?

A: Well yes. They have actually put things down [on paper] that they can all live with. Of course Rwanda would like only certain things on the table and Uganda would like certain other things. But they agreed to put all the things on the table and go from there. So the political will is there to actually come to have an honest airing of the issues.

Q: What can the outcome be?

A: The outcome is what we call a common vision with a plan of action, which together with the declaration will form a pact of stability, security and development.

Q: And what will that achieve?

From there, you can talk about full and free access for humanitarian workers - you can talk about DDR [Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration] programmes that actually cater for specific situations like [that of] female ex-combatants and what do you need to do. Do you need to coordinate the programmes in, say, Burundi and the [Democratic Republic of the] Congo? Do you need to take certain programmes that work in one area and apply them in another? Those are the specific things that you can look at together.

Q: You are speaking very positively about all this?

A: I am speaking positively knowing how hard the whole task is. So far, we have managed to put together a draft declaration, which reflects a common understanding of the mess that the region is in and what needs to be done to get out of it. The hard part will be after this [November] summit, when we get down to brass tacks and the meetings start with ministers and their experts on the economic side, the defence side and the humanitarian side.

Q: How much is this all costing?

A: Well, the estimate for what the conference will cost is not final. We know there will be a second summit in 2005. So the cost will be easier to grasp when we have more information on the inter-summit period.

Q: How much have donors given so far?

A: Very roughly, pledges and pay-ins are at about US $6.5 million. Canada has put in about $1.5 million. In the end, costs will probably be around $9 million or $10 million altogether.

Q: What is it all being spent on?

A: The money has been used for support of the preparations of [national consultations] in each of what are now 11 core countries. Each core country has a national coordinator, each national coordinator has put together a nation preparatory committee and has organised consultations throughout the country. Its task has been to canvas youth, women and NGOs as well as the various governors from the provinces and central government, parliamentarians, etc. So all of this requires money, funding for travel, for putting papers together and for holding conferences in each of the core countries. Also, we have had [preliminary regional] meetings in Bujumbura [capital of Burundi], Kinshasa [the DRC capital] and Kampala [Ugandan capital], plus specialised [regional] meetings bringing youth together, women together and NGOs.

Q: Why make civil society a part of a problem between governments and armed groups?

A: The role of civil society is something that the Group of Friends has really insisted on. It is one of the specificities of this conference. Now, civil society varies from country to country - the degree of political-civic involvement. But this is not just a governmental conference. It is a conference with the ultimate goal of improving the wellbeing of people, real people, who want to get ahead.

We start with victims, refugees and IDPs [internally displaced persons]. Their views are best conveyed by grassroots organisations, which ensure that the positions governments bring to the table also reflect the wider population in that country. But all this costs. We've paid for NGOs, women's groups and youth groups to get together, put their thoughts together and submit them to the national delegations.

Q: Who dispenses the money?

A: The money is put in what we call a trust fund, which is managed by UNDP [UN Development Programme]. It's a rather novel arrangement and it has been working out very well. In a country like Congo, which is very vast - when you are doing consultations in each of the provinces and the banking system doesn't really work, you have to actually get the money from Kinshasa. Almost the only organisation that is actually set up to deliver is UNDP.

Q: What does the so-called Group of Friends do besides give money?

A: We come in to help with political and diplomatic support when required. For example, with the enlarging of the core countries [in September] to include Angola, the Central African Republic and Sudan, we, and the EU's special envoy in particular, Mr [Aldo] Ajello, played a classic facilitating role.

Q: How did the idea for this conference first come about?

A: The fact is that this conference is a 20-year idea. It goes back to the early 1980s. It is really a French idea. It became more palpable, unfortunately, with what happened in Rwanda [during the 1994 genocide] and the civil war in the Congo. But in 2003, after the transition process for the Congo actually jelled, and when the peace process for Burundi was coming together, the idea of finally holding this conference took off.

It is very much in the logic of the transitional process and in ensuring that they do succeed. The logic is that there is no issue that is strictly national in the area of Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Congo. That's very important. And any country that is being affected by these conflicts should also be included in the process. That is why we have ended up with 11 core countries in the conference.

Q: How did Canada get involved?

A: The conference was officially launched in June 2003 under the aegis of the UN and AU. It initially involved six core countries [which have since become 11] and major partners, [international organisations], particularly those involved in the Congo and Burundi who were willing and even asked to, what we call, accompany the process. As the conference was being thought out, it was decided that there needed to be a formal way of bringing these partners together so the Secretary-General's Special Representative Ibrahima Fall suggested that a group of friends be formed and he asked the Canadian representative at the time [Ambassador Marc-André Brault]. This happened in December 2003 at the meeting in Geneva. Canada saw that this was going to become a major endeavour and so we invited the Netherlands to help co-chair the group with us.

Q: What is the greatest challenge the groups face in making the conference work?

A: The challenge is that when you identify so many issues, it is sometimes hard to focus and identify where you are going to start. As the Group of Friends, we are starting to see our role as encouraging some sort of focus on what is achievable.

[ENDS]