Secretary-General Ban congratulates Mozambique on anniversary of peace accords

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “warmly congratulates” the Government and people of Mozambique as they mark 20 years of peace since the signing of accords that ended the southern African country’s post-independence civil war, the UN chief’s spokesperson said today.

Mr. Ban reiterated the UN’s commitment to working with Mozambique as it “consolidates democracy and strives to achieve social inclusion, women’s empowerment and sustainable development,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Ban also recalled the role played by the now-concluded UN Operation in Mozambique (known by the Portuguese-language acronym ONUMOZ), the spokesperson said, noting that the peacekeeping operation “helped to implement the 1992 General Peace Agreement and lay the foundation for a durable peace.”

A few years after gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the African nation was plunged into a long and debilitating civil war between the Government, led by the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) party, and the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).

On 4 October 1992, after two years of negotiations in Rome, the two parties signed a General Peace Agreement. As part of the Agreement, the Security Council established ONUMOZ to monitor and support a ceasefire, the demobilization of forces and the holding of national elections.

ONUMOZ was established in December 1992 and its mandate ended in December 1994 – shortly before the African nation’s first multi-party elections.