African leaders are to gather in Kampala in April next year to discuss the root causes of endless conflicts on the continent that have forced millions of people to flee their homes, a top government official announced in Kampala on Friday.
Tarsis Kabwegyere, Minister of Relief and Disaster Preparedness told reporters that the summit, the first of its kind, will adopt the African Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.
"Hopefully after that the numbers (of refugees and internally displaced persons) will reduce from 17 million people to zero. What a day that will be that there will be no displacement in Africa," he said flanked by officials from the African Union (AU) Commission and ministry of foreign affairs.
For more than half a century, the continent is still home to more than 17 million refugees and internally displaced persons, making it the world's number one continent facing forced displacement.
The latest is the displacement of hundreds of thousands people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by fighting between the Congolese army and rebels loyal to renegade commander Laurent Nkunda.
The historic meeting that will run from April 30 to May 3, 2009 will be held under the theme "African Union addressing the challenge of forced displacement in Africa."
Kabwegyere said the leaders will make a solemn declaration by which they will be expected to commit themselves to taking concrete measures to address the root causes of forced displacement, strengthen the assistance for the continent's millions of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Dolly Joiner, Commissioner Political Affairs at the AU Commission, said when the convention is adopted and ratified, member states will through a peer review mechanism share experiences in implementing the convention.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2008)
