Activities of Secretary-General in Rwanda, 14-17 July
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left New York on Thursday, 14 July, for Kigali, Rwanda, where the African Union Summit was taking place, in order to meet with African leaders on the situation in South Sudan.
On the day of his arrival, the Secretary-General met with the Special Envoy of President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Nhial Deng Nhial, together with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deng Alor Kwol. The Secretary-General expressed outrage at the untold suffering inflicted upon the people of South Sudan and underlined the need for the parties to uphold the cessation of hostilities and to resume dialogue as the only way to sustainably address the crisis.
On that same afternoon, he met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra, and the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, with whom he also discussed the situation in South Sudan, among other issues.
On Saturday, 16 July, the Secretary-General met with Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and Idriss Déby Itno, President of Chad and Chairperson of the African Union.
He also held a joint meeting with Alpha Oumar Konaré, African Union High Representative for South Sudan, and Festus Mogae, Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, and had a bilateral meeting with Yoweri Kabuta Museveni, President of Uganda.
Finally, the Secretary-General discussed the humanitarian situation in South Sudan with the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) Administrator Gayle Smith, together with the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas Greenfield, and the United States Special Envoy for South Sudan, Donald Booth.
In the evening, during an extraordinary Summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Secretary-General said the people of South Sudan need to hear the region and the world speak with one voice to end the mindless violence in the country. (See Press Release SG/SM/17932.)
The Secretary-General left on the morning of 17 July for Nairobi for the opening of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.