“This is a critical moment for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region,” Ban told reporters in the capital, Kinshasa, following a meeting with President Joseph Kabila.

The “unprecedented” joint visit is in support of the UN-brokered peace agreement, which was signed in February by 11 African leaders and aims to end the cycles of conflict and crisis in the eastern DRC and to build peace in wider region.

“We believe it offers the best hope for peace in a generation,” Ban said. “But that agreement must translate into concrete actions. A peace deal must deliver a peace dividend for people.

Coinciding with the visit, the World Bank Group today announced $1 billion in proposed new funding to help countries in the Great Lakes provide better health and education services, generate more cross-border trade, and fund hydroelectricity projects in support of the peace deal.

“We made extraordinary efforts to secure an additional $1 billion in funding because we believe this can be a major contributor to a lasting peace in the Great Lakes region,” Kim said.

“This funding will help revitalize economic development, create jobs, and improve the lives of people who have suffered for far too long. Now the leaders of the Great Lakes region, by restarting economic activity and improving livelihoods in border areas, can boost confidence, build economies, and give new opportunities for millions of people.”

In addition to meeting with President Kabila and other Government officials, Ban and Kim will also meet parliamentarians and representatives of civil society. As part of their visit, both men will travel tomorrow to the eastern city of Goma.

Recent days have witnessed renewed clashes between rebels from the 23 March Movement (M23) and the DRC national armed forces in Goma, which was the scene of intense fighting late last year.

“It is my earnest hope that the Framework will lead to an era of peace and stability for the peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today at the signing ceremony in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

He stressed that the signing is a significant event, but only the beginning of a “comprehensive approach that will require sustained engagement.”

Eleven African countries – Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania – signed the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region.

By doing so, they agree to preserve and protect the territorial sovereignty, as well as the peace and stability, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Ban said.

The UN, the African Union, the 11-country International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) act as guarantors. A UN Special Envoy is expected to be appointed to support the Framework’s implementation.

The Secretary-General said he had been deeply disturbed by the violence that erupted in April last year in eastern part of the country when the M23 – made up of former national army troops – mutinied. Clashes between the fighters from the M23 and the DRC’s national army (FARDC) displaced nearly a million people in North Kivu, and in recent weeks, more than 300,000 people have been displaced by additional fighting in the south-eastern province of Katanga.

Following today’s signing, Mr. Ban stressed that the regional partners must act on the commitments and oversight mechanisms which aim at addressing key national and regional issues.

“I therefore call for your sustained political, technical and financial support, especially over the long-term, to accompany the implementation of the national and regional commitments outlined in the Framework,” Mr. Ban said.

He urged the participating members to meet at least twice a year, on the sidelines of the AU Summits and in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly held annually in September in New York, to review progress on the implementation of the Framework and agree on the way forward.

“Your active participation in the national and regional oversight mechanisms will also be essential for the success of the process,” Mr. Ban emphasized.

In a special report to be issued in the coming days, Mr. Ban said he outlines a “new comprehensive approach” to addressing the underlying causes of the conflict in the country and the region with all relevant partners.

The report includes various components of the Framework signed today, as well as a strengthened political and security role for the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).

In recent months, there has been growing support among Member States and UN senior officials to deploy an ‘Intervention Brigade’ with peace enforcement authorities beyond traditional UN peacekeeping. The brigade would be comprised from troop contributing countries and operate under the umbrella of MONUSCO. The decision to approve such a deployment is currently under discussion with the UN Security Council.

Regional countries “have committed to putting in motion” such a brigade, Mr. Ban said.

Speaking to journalists after the signing event, Mr. Ban added that he will brief the Security-Council upon his return to New York and that he expects the 15-member Council to make a decision “very soon.”

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the Secretary-General met privately with the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila Kabange, and with Uganda’s Vice-President Edward Ssekandi. Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was unable to attend.

Mr. Ban also spoke with Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the African Union, whose country hosted today’s signing event.

He also held a bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Mozambique and Chair of the SADC, Armando Emílio Guebuza, who expressed support for a possible military brigade within MONUSCO.

Discussing the wider situation in other African countries, Mr. Ban met with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, with whom he discussed the political situations in Kenya, Mali and Somalia. Mr. Ban also noted the lack of progress in the resolution of the remaining outstanding issues between Sudan and South Sudan and the deteriorating security situation in parts of Darfur.

Mr. Ban also met with the Foreign Minister of the Central African Republic, Colonel Parfait Anicet Mbay, to discuss political and security developments in that country.

Today’s Framework agreement had been expected to be signed at the African Union summit in Addis on 28 January but was delayed over what Mr. Ban called “procedural issues”.

Between 2000 and 2011, measles deaths dropped from 542,000 to 158,000 globally, representing a 71 per cent decrease. New cases also dropped during the same period by 58 per cent, according to new data released by the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

However, the agency warned that despite global progress, some populations remain unprotected, with an estimated 20 million children lacking vaccinations. More than half of them are concentrated in five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. India has the largest number of unvaccinated children – 6.7 million – followed by Nigeria and Ethiopia with 1.7 million and 1 million, respectively.

In 2011, outbreaks of the disease were reported in all five countries, as well as France, Italy and Spain. Most of these countries are in WHO regions which have committed to eliminate measles by 2015 or 2020.

Measles is a highly infectious disease that occurs through the spread of nasal and oral fluids and causes complications and deaths, even in previously healthy individuals. It is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe vaccine is available.

“The measles outbreaks pose a serious challenge to the regional elimination efforts and signal where national health systems and routine immunization programmes need strengthening,” WHO stated in a news release. “Resuming progress in reducing measles cases and deaths means strengthening health systems so that they can provide effective immunization services and laboratory-supported surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases to all children.”

The new data, published in WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record, shows overall progress in reducing deaths is linked largely to increased vaccination coverage. Two doses of measles vaccine are recommended by WHO since about 15 per cent of vaccinated children fail to develop immunity from the first dose.

The UN health agency noted that the outbreaks indicate the need to ensure that parents are fully aware of the benefits of immunization and the risks associated with not vaccinating children.

Since 2000, with support from the Measles & Rubella Initiative, more than one billion children have been reached through mass vaccination campaigns ? about 225 million of them in 2011.

Launched in 2001, the Measles & Rubella Initiative is a partnership — led by the American Red Cross, the UN Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO — committed to reducing measles deaths worldwide.

In April, the partners of the Initiative introduced a new global plan to jointly tackle measles and rubella using the same strategy and a combined vaccine. The new Measles & Rubella Initiative aims to reduce measles deaths worldwide by 95 per cent between by 2015 and to eliminate measles and rubella in at least five of six WHO regions by 2020.