SECRETARY-GENERAL REITERATES UN COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHENING COOPERATION WITH CENTRAL AFRICAN STATES

SECRETARY-GENERAL REITERATES UN COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHENING

COOPERATION WITH CENTRAL AFRICAN STATES

(Delayed for translation of text, originally delivered in French.)

Following is the message by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on the occasion of the High-level Meeting on Trans-border Insecurity between Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad, in Yaoundé, 25-27 August, delivered by General Lamine Cissé, Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic:

I welcome the convening of this important meeting, and I wish to thank the Government and people of Cameroon for hosting it.  It shows the determination of the authorities of your countries to combine their efforts to find a solution to the thorny problem of trans-border insecurity.

Organized with the support of the United Nations Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), directed by my representative General Lamine Cissé, this meeting is a concrete illustration of the subregional cooperation advocated and supported by the United Nations.  It marks the strengthening of the essential partnership among the United Nations, States and institutions of the Central African subregion.

It also enables the continuation of the cooperation established a dozen years ago between the UN and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) through the meetings of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa and on the basis of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.

I am confident that the conclusions and recommendations from your work will have the desired impact on the security situation of your three States.

With the recent return to constitutional law in the Central African Republic, I hope that such a high-level meeting will help this country to restore the durable stability essential to the consolidation of its emerging democracy and to the realization of socio-economic progress.  Likewise, Cameroon and Chad need trans-border stability in order to be able to continue their significant economic cooperation.

I wish to reiterate the commitment of the United Nations to strengthening cooperation with the States and institutions of Central Africa with a view to the promotion of durable peace and security in the subregion.

I wish you every success in your work.

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For information media • not an official record