Juba - The National Assembly Speaker Carolina Cerqueira is in Juba, capital city of South Sudan, to participate for the first time in the 13th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly of the Parliamentary Forum of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), taking place until the 1st of April.
Upon her arrival, Carolina Cerqueira was received at the airport by the Angolan ambassador, Sianga Abílio, and by parliamentary officials of South Sudan.
Speaking to ANGOP, Carolina Cerqueira emphasized the fact that Angola plays an important role in the pacification of the region, highlighting the recent approval by the National Assembly of the request of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, to send a military contingent to the DRC, in framework of the peace agreements between the local government and the M23 forces.
Angola, as a mediator in the peace process, has prepared a contingent of 500 troops from its Armed Forces (FAA).
"Angola brings as a current matter of great impact the mediation role of President João Lourenço in the pacification of the east of the DRC and the sending in the next few days of the military contingent to lead the process of cantonment of the M23 forces", reinforced Carolina Cerqueira.
The leader of the Angolan parliament recalled that the institution granted legislative authorization through a resolution for the sending of military personnel, which has 125 women.
The Angolan mission must secure the cantonment areas for the M23 elements and protect the members of the Ad-Hoc verification mechanism, following the ceasefire between government troops and the rebels.
During the event, parliamentarians from the region have on the agenda, among other issues, an approach to the conflict in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), peace and security, combating terrorism, natural disasters.
The works of the 13th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly of the Parliamentary Forum of the CIRGL began on Monday, 27th, with the election of the members of the commissions.
Angolan MP Agostinho Van-Dúnem was reappointed (elected) as a member of the Peace and Security Commission. Member of the National Assembly, where he is serving his second term, Agostinho Van-Dúnem is vice-president of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Abroad.
The Parliamentary Forum of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region is an inter-parliamentary organization that brings together national parliaments from the 12 member states of the ICGLR, namely Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
