Celebration of UK-DRC relations at British Embassy Kinshasa Queen’s Birthday Party
The UK’s policy towards DRC is to work for the transformation of the country into a stable and prosperous nation
Ambassador Diane Corner delivering her speech
On 18 June 2014, the British Embassy in Kinshasa celebrated The Queen’s Birthday Party. The event was attended by a number of cabinet ministers, government officials, the diplomatic corps, local and international NGOs and other partners.
In her speech, Ambassador Diane Corner said that the UK’s policy towards DRC was to support its transformation into a stable and prosperous nation.
The Ambassador welcomed the work of MONUSCO and its leader UN SRSG Martin Kobler, as well as the International Envoys in their efforts to support implementation of the Peace, Security and Co-operation Framework.
Ambassador Corner highlighted the bilateral support that UKAid provides to the DRC, across a range of sectors including humanitarian, health, education and improvement of the business climate.
The Ambassador also stressed that the UK wanted to see a deepening of democracy in the DRC and called on the Congolese government to outline a full electoral calendar leading up to presidential elections in 2016.
Ambassador Corner highlighted the importance the UK attached to ending sexual violence and saluted the resolve of the DRC government to tackle it.
She said:
Their Excellencies the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and the Minister for Gender last week attended the London Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. They stressed that tackling sexual violence is a priority for the Government, which is taking its responsibilities seriously in tackling impunity, and supporting victims.
Ambassador Corner said the UK was committed to working with government, civil society and the international community to eradicate this terrible scourge.
She concluded by saying that we needed, together, to redouble our efforts to create a stable and prosperous DRC.
The full text of the speech can be found .