Democratic Republic of Congo peace talks
The UN special envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo Olusegun Obasanjo, met with various leaders of the Great Lakes region, President Joseph Kabila and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, in an effort to bring both parties to the table for peace talks. The African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council, discussed at its 157th session the security situation in Darfur expressing support to the AU-UN chief mediator and urging all parties to the conflict to respond positively to the call made by President Bashir for an immediate cessation of all forms of hostilities. In addition, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will lead a delegation of the Elders Group of Eminent Persons to Zimbabwe to assess the country’s escalating humanitarian crisis and see how to respond more effectively to prevent its spill-over effects into neighbouring countries.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa summit of heads of State and government scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe has been postponed until next year because of the current political instability. The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States has congratulated the electoral commission and people of Ginuea Bissau for the peaceful, free and transparent elections that were held on Sunday and their commitment to the ideals of democracy. Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua, speaking at the opening of the 44th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, called on African leaders to support the commission, work hard towards the promotion and protection of human rights and eradicate poverty in the continent. Penal Reform International used the Commission’s 44th session to launch a new publication: ‘Africa’s Recommendations for Penal Reform’ that brings together declarations, plans of action and recommendations for penal reform.
In other news, China’s top legislator Wu Bangguo, during his talks with the AU Commission chairperson, said that China was committed ‘to enhance bilateral communication and coordination on international and regional issues with the AU in a bid to push for improvement of China-Africa relations and safeguard the interest of developing countries’. South Africa’s President Kgalema Motlanthe, who was the only African representative to the Group of 20 summit of world leaders, said that the Group agreed to strengthen the system of international financial governance by giving developing countries effective representation. Finally, economists studying currency unions have claimed that the ‘adoption of a common currency increases trade because it eliminates exchange rate volatility and reduces the transactions cost of trade within that group of countries’, but concerns over national sovereignty in Africa are holding back economic integration.