Republic of Rwanda
Office of the President
New York, September 27th, 2012
The crisis in the eastern DRC is an African problem that can be solved by Africans, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame told the United Nations today.
Speaking at a High Level Meeting convened by UN Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon, President Kagame invited delegates to back peace efforts spearheaded by the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
“Regional initiatives are key to finding a lasting solution and anyone who wants to help should support them because they are the best option we have. All that is needed is to support, not supplant, their efforts,” President Kagame said.
President Kagame warned against “externalizing” the DRC crisis — blaming external actors for the problem and seeking external solutions — when such an approach “effectively absolves blame from those with primary responsibility”.