The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation participates in the ICGLR Ministerial Meeting

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation HE Albert SHINGIRO took part in the ministerial meeting of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) held in Luanda in the Republic of Angola on June 2, 2023. The meeting aimed to review the situation in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The meeting was followed by the Extraordinary Summit on Peace and Security in the Eastern Region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Sudan which took place in Luanda on June 3, 2023, at the invitation of His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola.

 According to the final communiqué, the Summit took note and welcomed the decisions of the 21st Extraordinary Summit of the East African Community, of May 31, 2023 held in Bujumbura, under the auspices of His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi and current Chairman of the East African Community and Chairman of the Regional Monitoring Mechanism for Peace, Security and the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation on the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region and African Union Champion for the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda. The Summit reaffirmed the urgent need to strengthen the coordination as well as the operationalization of the framework for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the M23 from the occupied territories.

The Summit reiterated the demand for the immediate laying down of arms by the M23, the FDLR/FOCA, the RED-TABARA, the ADF and other local and foreign armed groups and terrorist groups on Congolese territory, as well as their unconditional repatriation. The Summit welcomed the initiative of the Republic of Angola to deploy a Contingent of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) with the aim of ensuring the security of the cantonment areas of the M23 and supporting the activities of the Verification Mechanism ad hoc. The Summit encouraged the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to accelerate the implementation of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Community Reintegration and Stabilization Program (P-DDRCS), an essential condition for the resolution of the conflict in the Eastern Region of the DRC.

According to this final communiqué, the Summit instructed the Ministers of External Relations / Foreign Affairs of Angola, DRC, Rwanda and Burundi, as current Chairman of the East African Community (EAC) supported by the Ad-hoc Verification Mechanism, to meet periodically to jointly assess the progress made in the implementation of the commitments arising from the Luanda Road Map and the Joint Action Plan for the Pacification of the Eastern Region of the DRC and the Normalization of Political-Diplomatic Relations between the DRC and Rwanda.

The Summit also urged the reactivation of the peace process in Sudan, in order to find a lasting solution to the conflict, and commended the efforts of the African Union, IGAD and other African sub-regional organizations, and underlined the need for african leadership and coordination of efforts.

The Summit stressed the importance of consultations and coordination with the authorities of Sudan, for any initiative aimed at assisting Sudan to put an end to the present conflict in order to get a peaceful and democratic transition through an inclusive political process in the country.

The Summit recognized that the solution to the Sudanese crisis is not military, it is political, through a viable and inclusive political process.

It should be noted that the Presidents of the Republic of Burundi HE Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE was represented in this summit by his Vice Ir Prosper BANZOMBANZA.