The Security Council has emphasised that there can only be peace in the Great Lakes region “if all the countries of the region were successful in defining among themselves the rules by which to promote security and development”, a UN press release states. The Council requested UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and interested member states to make proposals, on an urgent basis, on how to address these interrelated crises. It expressed support for the proposed establishment of a Congo River Basin Commission, comprising the Congolese parties, UN agencies and some neighbouring countries under the chairmanship of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC). The Security Council also reaffirmed that an international conference on peace, security, democracy and development in the Great Lakes should be organised at an appropriate time under the auspices of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations.
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