Eastern and southern African countries enhance cooperation

Eastern and southern African countries are striving to enhance economic cooperation for promotion of durable regional peace and security. this is a signal given by the three-day eighth conference on peace and security in eastern and southern Africa which ended in arusha, northern Tanzania, yesterday. the participants at the conference said the end of apartheid in south Africa has opened a new chapter for regional cooperation and integration. the countries of the sub-region should strengthen security and direct regional development, the participants emphasized. they also admitted elimination of structural differences within the region will go a long way in minimizing conflicts to promote security and stability. the role of civil society in political and economic fronts of the region must be promoted and strengthened to enhance peace, they added. on the security and conflict management, the conference recommended regional efforts be directed to promotion of human security in all forms. they also called for multilateral arrangements, including confidence and security building measures to be put in place for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the continent. the conference also unanimously endorsed the establishment of southern African institute (sai) as it imperatively necessary for specialized studies on security and related issues. the conference was jointly organized by the Dar Es salaam based center for foreign relations and south Africa-based center for southern African studies.