UN welcomes Tanzania summit on eastern DR Congo crisis
New York, US (PANA) - The UN has welcomed last Saturday's meeting of African leaders to address the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The joint summit by the Southern African bloc, SADC, and the East African Community (EAC) was held in Tanzania on Saturday. Participants reaffirmed the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC.
Fighting escalated in late January when M23 rebels, who are backed by Rwanda, seized control of parts of North Kivu province, including the regional capital Goma.
Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the world body remains committed to supporting the immediate measures announced, including an immediate ceasefire, the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, and efforts to ensure the security of Goma and its key infrastructure.
The leaders called for an end to hostilities, a new roadmap to peace in the region, an immediate ceasefire, the opening of a humanitarian corridor in Goma and the consolidation of the various efforts to end the conflict.
The Summit ordered the holding of an urgent meeting of the chiefs of defence forces in five days, to determine a new concept of operations to deal with the rebel forces in the region.
The Ministers of foreign affairs are also expected to urgently meet once again, to determine the priorities for peace, to review the required elements for permanent peace in the region and to recommend the resources required to ensure peace returns to the region.
The leaders resolved the Luanda Peace Process, led by the Southern Africa leaders under the Chairmanship of the Angolan President and the Nairobi Peace Process, led by former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, should be merged into one.
The merged peace process should lead to the creation of a secretariat to be staffed by experts drawn from across the region, to oversee the peace efforts.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, said he was continuing his dialogue with the warring parties to achieve an "immediate de-escalation" of the crisis and a resumption of dialogue in order to "avoid a regional war at all costs".
To this end, Xia recently visited the Rwandan capital and plans to travel to Dar es Salaam to hold talks with foreign ministers of relevant countries.
The Special Envoy will also be part of the Secretary-General's delegation to the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 15 and 16 February, to continue promoting peace efforts.
-0- PANA MA 11Feb2025
