The United Nations on Friday said that Mozambique’s political dialogue for peace represents a “ray of hope” in the face of multiple crises in the world, praising the African country’s leadership’s commitment to inclusiveness.
“The world is in crisis” and “in the face of this gloomy scenario, Mozambique’s political dialogue for peace has become a ray of hope,” said Cristina Duarte, representative of the United Nations Secretary-General at the ceremony marking in Maputo the end of the disarmament and demobilisation process of the armed arm of Resistência Nacional Moçambique (Renamo), the main opposition party.
“Mozambique has demonstrated that conflicts can be resolved peacefully, through honest, open and politically inclusive dialogue,” said Duarte.
The representative of António Guterres referred in particular to the government’s commitment to pay pensions to former Renamo guerrillas as an act that reflects the will for social inclusion and national reconciliation.
“The decision to extend the pension system to the demobilised is an act of reconciliation and a decisive step towards nation building,” she emphasised.
Cristina Duarte stressed that the measure is an important contribution to the consolidation of peace in Mozambique and serves as inspiration for other countries seeking to end armed conflict.
Today’s act is the culmination of the closure on the 15th of the last base of Renamo’s armed wing and is part of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process provided for in the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement signed in August 2019.
The agreement was the third signed between the government and Renamo, the first two having been breached and resulted in armed confrontation following the main opposition party’s contestation of the election results.
Under the DDR, 5,221 Renamo guerrillas have returned home.
Today’s ceremony was attended by heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), UN representatives and the diplomatic corps accredited in Maputo.
Lusa
