US lauds Angola as a 'valued voice for peace' in Great Lakes region

The United States has hailed Angola as a valued voice of peace in the Great Lakes region. This comes on the day the former Portuguese colony celebrates its 41st independence anniversary. The US congratulatory message was issued on behalf of President Obama by the Secretary of State, John Kerry.

The statement read in part, ‘‘The United States deeply appreciates its strong and productive partnership with Angola. Your country has been a valued voice for peace in the region, and we applaud the leadership you have shown in helping to resolve conflicts, particularly in the Great Lakes area.

In the year ahead, we look forward to continued collaboration to promote sustainable prosperity, good governance, and democratic institutions,’‘ it added.

Africanews wishes the government and people of Angola a happy 41st Independence anniversary pic.twitter.com/hFbLVYoqFZ

— africanews (@africanews) November 11, 2016

The southern African oil producer recently hosted a historic security summit for the region under the aegis of the United Nations Great Lakes Peace Security and Cooperation Summit in the capital, Luanda.

This was the seventh in a series of such conferences but the first ever to take place away from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa or the UN General Assembly.

The summit discussed ways of bringing lasting peace to the Great Lakes region, an area in sub-Saharan Africa that mainly covers about 12 countries in east, central and southern Africa, most affected by conflict. The summit was called by the UN to discuss peace programs in the DRC, Burundi, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

President Joseph Kabila of DRC, Idriss Déby of Chad, Edgar Lungu of Zambia and host Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola. Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda did not attend the meeting but sent representatives.

Also present was the AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Stergomena Lawrence Tax, executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Zachary Muburi-Muita, the executive secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.