Member States of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) from Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda gathered in Kigali today for a Defence Cluster meeting. The session aims to assess past achievements and review ongoing joint defence initiatives among the partner states.
Over the two days, officials will review three draft legal frameworks developed by the Technical Committee last month under the mutual defence pact.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Brig Gen Célestin Kanyamahanga, the Permanent Secretary stressed the importance of the discussions and thanked the member states for their participation. He also congratulated the Technical Committee for its remarkable work done regarding outstanding legal frameworks, which will be reviewed by the ministerial policy committee before submission to the heads of states
The Defence Cluster agreement encompasses several areas of cooperation, including conflict prevention, management and resolution; genocide prevention; counterterrorism; anti-piracy efforts; peace support operations; disaster risk reduction and management; crisis response; control of illicit small arms and light weapons; combating transnational and cross-border crimes; and intelligence collection and sharing on emerging and existing threats. (End)