The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Durham on 2016-09-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial and diplomatic assistance they are providing to the East African Community and the UN to support them in their efforts to reduce existing tensions between the governments of Burundi and Rwanda.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The East African Community (EAC) has a central role to play in resolving the crisis in Burundi and mediating dialogue between Burundi and its neighbours. We strongly support the EAC mediation process, led by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa. We have provided extensive diplomatic support to the process through lobbying of regional leaders and attendance by our Special Envoy to the Great Lakes at meetings of the dialogue in May and July in Arusha, Tanzania.
Through our UN Security Council Membership we have worked with partners to ensure that EAC efforts are fully coordinated with, and supported by, the United Nations. In January 2016 our Ambassador to the United Nations participated in a Security Council visit to Burundi. In July the Security Council passed Resolution 2303 which welcomed the EAC’s efforts so far and called for all parties in the region to participate fully with the process.
