Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero
CENI headquarters
Kinshasa, Thursday, October 6, 2011
Photo: Yassa/L’Avenir
I missed this one, though State’s Press Relations office released six days ago the following “Media Note”:
“Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs María Otero will travel to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from October 2 to 6 to discuss the promotion of democratic institutions and processes, human rights issues, and global issues related to peace, security, and stability. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Todd Robinson will accompany Under Secretary Otero on the trip.
During her visit to Burundi, Under Secretary Otero will engage with senior government officials and civil society representatives to discuss trafficking in persons, human rights, as well as bilateral and multilateral cooperation. She will also meet with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region to discuss common security and development objectives.
In the DRC, Under Secretary Otero will hold meetings with senior Congolese officials, civil society representatives, youth leaders, the private sector and international organizations to engage on a range of issues including conflict minerals, elections, mobile banking, human rights, health, and sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). In addition to a stop in Kinshasa, she will visit South Kivu province where she will tour a hospital that treats SGBV victims and engage with a range of actors on working to disrupt the link between the minerals trade and armed groups.”
Two articles are devoted by the daily L’Avenir to this visit. It seems that Under Secretary Otero entered the DRC via Bukavu (South Kivu Province), where, according to L’Avenir, she visited Dr. Denis Mukwege’s Panzi Hospital, where are treated women victims of sexual terrorism; and met with USAID team on strategies to stymie SGBV, as well as army leaders on approaches to curb child soldiering. (I have discussed Dr. Mukwege’s work at Bukavu Panzi Hospital on this blog here, here, and here.)
In Bukavu and Kinshasa, still according to L’Avenir, Under Secretary Otero also had lengthy meetings with DRC Mining Minister Martin Kabwelulu “on the efforts by the Congolese government to sever the link between minerals trade and armed groups.”
Adding:
“It was [after one of these meetings with Mining Minister Kabwelu] that [Under Secretary Otero] announced the creation in the coming days (probably in the month of November) of the Alliance between public and private sectors for a Responsible Minerals Trade, in acronym PPA [Private-Public sectors Alliance?]. PPA, she explained, is a joint effort between the US government, private sector companies and business associations, civil society and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
According to the information facts sheet given to journalists, PPA intends to support the achievement of three objectives. Firstly, it will help in developing a pilot supply chain that will allow companies to get supplies in minerals from mines that will be audited and certified as being without links to conflict.
Secondly, it will provide a coordination platform for actors in government, industry, and civil society willing to support a minerals-supply process not linked to conflicts in the DRC.
Thirdly, finally, the PPA will create a website conceived to serve as resource for companies seeking information related to responsible supply of DRC minerals. On this subject, USAID plans on funding PPA with $3.2m. This will specifically serve to support the certification and traceability of conflict-free minerals.”
Maybe this new structure would allay the concerns of anti-Dodd Frank activists like David Aronson of Congo Resources.
In Kinshasa, on Thursday, October 6, Under Secretary Otero, flanked by the US Kinshasa Ambassador James F. Entwistle and other American officials, visited CENI headquarters where she met with CENI’s Rapporteur Matthieu Mpika, Deputy Questor Elise Muhimuzi, and National Executive Secretary Dave Banza. Under Secretary Otero also visited CENI central server.
“The ongoing electoral process,” said Under Secretary Otero, “will allow Congolese to freely choose their future leaders” (my retranslation from the French translation).
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