UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS VISITS LOME

Press Release
DC/2671

UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS VISITS LOME

Signs Host Country Agreement of United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa

LOME, 17 November (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- On Wednesday, 17 November, the Republic of Togo and the United Nations signed in Lomé the host-country agreement by which the Government of Togo formally accepts hosting the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa. The agreement was signed by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, on behalf of the United Nations, and by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Joseph Kokou Koffigoh, on behalf of the Government of Togo.

Although the Regional Centre was officially inaugurated more than a decade ago, the signing of the host-country agreement reflects the renewed importance of regional disarmament. The official signing of this agreement follows calls within the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and within the United Nations itself for the revitalization of the United Nations Regional Centres. To date, three Regional Centres have been created by the United Nations. They are based in Lomé, Togo (for Africa), in Lima, Peru (for Latin America and the Caribbean) and in Kathmandu, Nepal (for Asia and the Pacific).

Mr. Dhanapala's visit to Togo was initiated as part of continued efforts to revitalize the Regional Centre in Lomé and boost regional disarmament, in particular the Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons among the 16 member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

During the working session with the Togolese Minister for Foreign Affairs on Wednesday morning, discussion focused on the further improvement of cooperation between Togo and the Lomé-based Centre. Mr. Dhanapala also paid a courtesy call on Togolese President, Gnassingbe Eyadema. Mr. Dhanapala took the opportunity to thank President Eyadema for the facilities extended to the Regional Centre since its inception and pledged to ensure its strengthening in order to serve the cause of peace and disarmament in Africa. Mr. Dhanapala was accompanied by the Director of the Regional Centre, Ivor Richard Fung.

Earlier, Mr. Dhanapala met the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Coordinator of the United Nations system, Ahmadou Ly, and other representatives of the United Nations programme in Lomé to brief them on developments at United Nations Headquarters and to exchange news on United Nations programmes in Togo.

- 2 - Press Release DC/2671 22 November 1999

On Thursday, 18 November, the Under-Secretary-General left Togo for Bamako, Mali, to hold high-level talks with Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare, the initiator of the West African Moratorium, who will assume the rotating presidency of ECOWAS in December 1999.

In Bamako, besides participating at a round-table discussion on light weapons, Mr. Dhanapala will visit the office of the Programme for Coordination and Assistance on Security and Development (PCASED), the mechanism charged with assisting in the implementation of the Moratorium on Light Weapons in West Africa. Executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), PCASED is a five-year regional project of UNDP operating within the framework of the Regional Centre.

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