Africa.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's initiative to bring lasting peace, stability and development to the countries of Central Africa, several of which have been torn by decades of war, took an important step in early September 2004 with the first preparatory committee meeting for a regional summit, which will be held by the end of the year. Participants from the seven core countries of the International Conference for the Great Lakes region--Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia--and from neighbouring States and regional organization, gathered in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, for the week-long meeting, the first of three before the summit. The International Conference for peace, security, democracy and development in the Great Lakes region was first proposed by Mr. Annan and is co-sponsored by the United Nations and the African Union.

As government forces and the rebels in Burundi continued to clash near Bujumbura, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were constructing temporary shelters for an estimated 25,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on 15 September. The new camps in Kabezi Commune, just south of the Burundi capital, put some distance between the IDPs and government military positions, which are regularly attacked by the Front National de Liberation (FNL)--the only rebel group not to have joined the peace process after a decade of war in the country. In May, the Security Council established the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), with an eventual strength of 5,650 military personnel and up to 1,000 national and international civilian staff, to help restore lasting peace and bring about national reconciliation between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis.

The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) on 23 September relinquished security responsibility to government forces for the last of the country's four provinces. UN peacekeepers in the western area, which includes the capital Freetown, lowered the United Nations flag for the last time and handed it over to the Commander of the UNAMSIL Northern Command, Brig. Gen. Alhaji Nuhu Bamalli, who then gave it to the regional police commander, Chief Superintendent Sahid Ibrahim Koroma. There was also a change of guard from UN peacekeepers to officers of the Sierra Leone Police. Speaking at the ceremony, UNAMSIL Force Commander Maj. Gen. Sajjad Akram said the Mission was handing over primacy of security to the police, but peacekeepers would "remain ultimately responsible for security, but now in consultation with the Government.... We will still offer advice, identify solutions and always be available to support the security agencies to deal with serious security issues." Established in October 1999 to help with the implementation of the Lome Peace Agreement, and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration plan, UNAMSIL is in the process of gradually reducing its forces, which had an authorized maximum strength of 17,500 military personnel. The Mission now stands at about 8,500 troops.

Although Liberia has registered "remarkable progress" in the past year since the United Nations moved in to enforce a peace accord that ended nearly 15 years of vicious civil war, insufficient international funding to tackle the many formidable challenges ahead is cause for serious concern, according to a new assessment. Budget shortfalls threaten the reintegration of ex-combatants, the return of refugees and the resettlement of IDPs, as well as overall recovery efforts and the timetable for the registration of voters for the October 2005 elections, as declared by Liberian, UN and West African officials after a joint session at UN Headquarters in New York on 22 September 2004.

The first meeting of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Coordination Mechanism called on donors to contribute in a timely manner the necessary funds, noting that only half of the $520 million pledged by donors in February 2004 had so far been received. The gathering also praised the great strides made in key areas such as: deployment throughout the country of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which has over 14,500 troops on the ground, as well as 1,090 civilian police officers; the demobilization of over 76,000 former fighters; the training of recruits for a new Liberian police service; efforts to extend State authority throughout the country; and preparations for the national elections.

Prominent political figures in Cote d'Ivoire continue to posture for partisan gains for themselves in the current peace process, a group overseeing the country's troubled path towards peace and unity said in a September report to the Security Council. The tripartite monitoring group, comprising representatives from the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), the African Union and ECOWAS, reported that the political atmosphere was suffering as a result and "[t]his posture could lead to a revival of political vindications and animosities, which could erode the full and unconditional commitment to the Accra III Agreement". In late July, the parties in Cote d'Ivoire signed this accord that binds the Government to the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Agreement, which ended fighting in the West African country and created a government of national reconciliation. The Accra III Agreement focuses on those parts of the 2003 pact that were still disputed.

The monitoring group's report noted that there were "divergent interpretations" of the meaning of the Accra III Agreement, adding that the National Assembly was also risking gridlock over the introduction of contentious legislation. However, it found a "silver lining" in the willingness of the different armed forces in the country to end their belligerency towards each other and uphold the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme slated to start in October 2004. The group called on Secretary-General Annan and the chairpersons of ECOWAS and the African Union to put pressure on Cote d'Ivoire's major political figures to place "national interest above partisan advantage". Citing President Laurent Gbagbo, leader of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), and the opposition leaders--Henri Konan Bedie of the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), Alassane Ouattara of Rally of the Republicans (RDR) and Guillaume Soro of Forces Nouvelles--the monitoring group urged them "to stay on the course of the road map to peace and national reconciliation". Peacekeeping forces from UNOCI currently divide Cote d'Ivoire between the Government-controlled south and the opposition-dominated north.

While taking note of some positive developments between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Security Council on 14 September extended the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea for six months. UNMEE oversees the ceasefire between the two countries, which signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in June 2000 after a two-year border war. The Council also stressed the responsibility of both sides for the implementation of the Algiers Agreement and the decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission. It called on both parties "to show political leadership to achieve a full normalization of their relationship, including through the adoption of further confidence-building measures". In a report released in early September 2004, the Secretary-General noted that Eritrea and Ethiopia remained in a stalemate, and said the longer the deadlock continued, the greater the risk that an isolated incident could unravel the truce which ended the fierce border war.