The security situation in the Great Lakes region, particularly in the DRC and Sudan, worries regional and international organizations. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union Commission, spoke in a speech about the importance of regional and international action to resolve the security issues and the disastrous humanitarian consequences affecting this region.
Welcoming the diplomatic and military initiatives of the East African Community, ECCAS and the Southern African Development Community, SADC, he called on the United Nations to act as well. It also envisages a quadripartite summit of regional organizations on the question of the DRC.
Despite the actions of the EACRF Regional Force, armed groups such as the M23 persist in the eastern part of the DRC. In its resolve to make the Great Lakes region an area of lasting peace and security, the ICGLR has been able to make progress, however, challenges remain for stability and development.
In a region where initiatives are encouraged to resolve humanitarian and security issues, the DRC must also mobilize citizens to ensure fair and equitable elections. The rehabilitation of the Kinshasa-Matadi railway would provide an economic dynamic to the country.
Unfortunately, some recent events have had the opposite effect. The arrest of Salomon Idi Kalonda Della raises the question of respect for human rights in the DRC. The assassination of a former civil society president in Butuhe and the deadly terrorist attack in Beni show the imperative for the government to protect its citizens and end the impunity of armed groups.
It is indeed a region at a crossroads, where political choices will have a significant impact on the future. The Governor of Ituri has set an example by ending the impunity of armed groups in his region. Opposition leaders call for citizen mobilization before the December 2023 elections, while Jean Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, representing the DRC, strengthens ties with Turkey during the inauguration of President Erdogan