Committee on security in Central Africa meeting

A UN committee which aims to foster security and development in Central Africa opened a week-long session in Bujumbura, Burundi, on Monday, a UN statement said. The UN Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa will be attended by ministers from the region to discuss a range of key issues, including the current political situation and inter-state cooperation to promote peace in the region. According to the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs, which is organising the event, the meeting will also review the implementation of the 1999 sub regional conference on the proliferation of and illicit circulation of small arms in Central Africa. Participants will also examine what has been done to follow up the recommendations of last year’s sub regional conference on refugees and internally displaced persons in Central Africa. The committee was set up by the General Assembly in 1992 to develop confidence-building measures and to promote arms restraint and development in the central African sub region. It meets at least twice a year at the ministerial level and organises various other events related to peace and security in central Africa, the UN statement said. The committee’s 11 members are: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC, Republic of Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe. Meanwhile, Burundi’s President Pierre Buyoya was expected in Libreville, Gabon on Tuesday, local Burundi news organisations reported.