Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has urged the international community and African partners to act with urgency in addressing the root causes of conflict on the continent, stressing that peace and stability remain the foundation of sustainable development.
Speaking during a session on “Peace and Stability: Ensuring Human Dignity and Human Security” at TICAD in Yokohama, the Minister said: “Africa, and the world at large stand at a critical juncture. Recent economic, geopolitical and climate-related crises have disproportionately affected our Continent. This has led to increased challenges across the board, and even setbacks in development gains.”
While highlighting Africa’s efforts toward building resilient digital economies, he cautioned that “the foundation remains peace and stability.”
Nduhungirehe pointed to progress made in strengthening peace mechanisms, particularly the African Union Peace Fund, which he noted “reached its 400-million-dollar target, with increased participation from the private sector.”
Reaffirming Rwanda’s role in regional peace, he said: “Rwanda remains a committed partner to peace across our region. Ours is a holistic and human-focused approach to peace support. At the formal request of partner countries, we have deployed forces in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mozambique, and we continue to contribute to peacekeeping efforts in South Sudan and CAR. These efforts reflect my country’s commitment to African solutions to African problems.”
The Minister recalled the Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians adopted in 2015, saying they “remain an essential framework to guide a robust, effective, accountable, and people-centered peacekeeping.”
He also emphasized the importance of regional collaboration in tackling insecurity.
“In the African Great Lakes region, for example, commendable efforts are currently being led by the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), under the coordination of the African Union, to support a sustainable solution for peace in the region.”
Nduhungirehe noted that these efforts are reinforced by diplomatic initiatives such as the Washington Peace Agreement and the Doha Process.
Looking ahead, he expressed optimism but also issued a warning:
“We believe that our aspiration to ‘Silencing the Guns’ on the Continent can be achieved by the end of the decade. However, renewed urgency is needed in addressing the underlying root causes of conflicts such as bad governance, corruption, discrimination, and genocide ideology, which are deeply rooted in countries such as the DRC.”
Concluding his remarks, the Minister underlined the significance of TICAD as a global platform to address Africa’s challenges.
“I wish to conclude by stressing that TICAD offers a unique platform to collectively address these challenges, whose spillover effects are felt around the world. Because Africa is set to be the engine of global growth and innovation in the future, now is the time for us to act.”
Brenna AKARABO
RADIOTV10
