New York City, N.Y., Mar 30, 2016 / 05:02 am
In a region fraught with political, ethnic and religious divisions, the Central African Republic's motto of "Unity, Dignity, and Work" can serve as a foundation for healing and progress in Africa's Great Lakes Region, a Vatican representative told the United Nations.
"No solutions to the Region's many problems would be possible if there are divisions instead of unity, grave violations of human rights instead of respecting the dignity of all, and extreme poverty instead of dignified work for all," Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said March 21.
Archbishop Auza's remarks came as part of the U.N. Security Council Debate on "The Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts in the Great Lakes Region."
Although the Great Lakes Region of Africa – which includes Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic – is home to rich biodiversity, it's also place of "political instability and bad governance, corruption and extreme poverty, ethnic divisions and exploitative use of the abundant natural resources," he said.