The term ‘Great Lakes Region’, although used liberally, does not have a common, shared interpretation. In the context of the International Conference on the Great 1 Lakes Region (ICGLR) the term denotes eleven African states, seven of whom, namely Burundi, the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, are perched on the shores of Africa’s largest lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, Albert and Kivu. The remaining four ICGLR member states: Angola, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Republic of Congo – Brazzaville and Sudan, do not enjoy such proximity to the lakes. In this paper the term ‘Great Lakes Region’ has a restrictive interpretation and is confi ned to the ‘core’ Great Lakes states of Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.