2.3. Tanzania’s Strong Pan-Africanism and its Role in the liberation of Southern Africa 91. On achieving independence, Tanzania’s leadership focus was on supporting the efforts of other African nations to gain independence. Tanzania’s participation and leadership in the African liberation struggle is of significant value. As a key member of the Frontline States, which included Zambia and Botswana, it contributed significantly to Southern African States’ achievement of independence by committing its scarce resources, diplomatic strength and military support. Nyerere pursued the ideals of liberation in dealings with the rest of the continent and, with the leaders of the few other African countries that were independent in 1963, established the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). 92. With independence, the political mandate of the Front Line States changed to an economic one and Tanzania, under the leadership of Mwalimu Nyerere, was one of nine countries that came together in 1980 to establish the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on 17 August 1992.. 2.4. South-South Cooperation and Regional Integration 93. Tanzania championed some form of political union for African states, and promoted a non-aligned stance toward the Cold War antagonists. The URT accordingly played an important role in regional and international organisations. Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president, was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. Furthermore, Tanzania played an active role in the G-77, the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and SADCC. Mwalimu Nyerere was personally active in many of these organisations and served as Chairman of the OAU (1984-85) and Chairman of the six front-line states. Tanzania is a member of the East African Community (EAC) which was formed in 1967 and failed in 1977. In March 1996, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya revived economic and regional cooperation discussions. These talks culminated in the signing of the Treaty establishing the East African Community in November 1999, with headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. 2.5 Hosting War Refugees 94. Long a host to substantial refugee populations, Tanzania was overwhelmed by refugees from the war in neighbouring Burundi in the 1990s. For decades Tanzania hosted one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on 30 January 2007 that, for the first time in more than a decade, Tanzania’s refugee camp population had dropped below 300,000. More than 250,000 refugees went back home from Tanzania since 2002. Over 220,000 Burundian refugees who lived in refugee settlements in central Tanzania since 1972 were given the option to either return voluntarily to Burundi or be naturalised as Tanzanian citizens. In 2009, Tanzania granted citizenship to 162,000 Burundi refugees. More than 200,000 Burundian refugees who fled to Tanzania in 1972 still remain. 2.6. Peace Efforts in the Great Lakes Region and Beyond 95. Tanzania has long promoted efforts to resolve chronic conflicts, especially in the Great Lakes Region. Tanzania brokered peace talks to end the conflict in Burundi. On foreign policy, Tanzania played a leading diplomatic role in East Africa, hosting peace talks for the factions fighting in neighbouring Rwanda up until the Arusha Peace Accord. The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is located in the town of Arusha. In March 2008, the Tanzanian military led an African Union-authorised force onto one of the islands in the Comoros archipelago to restore Government authority. Tanzania’s participation in United Nations or African Union peacekeeping missions include deployments to Lebanon, Eritrea, Burundi, Southern Sudan, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros and Sudan (Darfur). 40