Uganda to host 12th High-Level Meeting on Peace and Security in Great Lakes Region

Uganda was announced as the host of the 12th High-Level Oversight Meeting on Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region. This was during the 11th High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes Region held in Bujumbura, Burundi.

The meeting was attended by the Heads of State and Governments of the Signatory Countries of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The aim of the summit was to review recent developments in the region as well as progress and challenges in the implementation of the PSC Framework, ten years after its signing on 24 February 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The leaders agreed to meet again in Kampala, Uganda, in 2024 to further review the implementation of the PSC Framework. During the summit, the outgoing PSC Chair, President Felix Antoine Tshishekedi of DRC, handed over leadership to Burundi President, Evariste Ndayishimiye.

The United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, highlighted the importance of stability in DRC and urged other countries in the region to put resources together to help their neighbour gain stability so that it can develop socially and economically.

Audrine Faith Otieno, the Chairperson of Peace and Security of the Regional Youth Forum of the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), attributed the high levels of unemployment and poverty in the Great Lakes Region to instability and urged leaders in the region to fulfil the resolutions they come up with during high-level summits.

The meeting was attended by the Heads of State and Government or Representatives of Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The Secretary-General of the UN, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, the Executive Secretary of the ICGLR, and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in charge of corporate affairs also participated in the deliberations as Guarantor Institutions of the PSC Framework.

The Heads of State also planted trees at State House – Bujumbura as a sign of conserving the environment. The outgoing PSC Chair, President Tshishekedi, appreciated participating countries for their efforts in ensuring that DRC regains stability and assured that due to the PSC Framework, peace will reign again in DRC.

The incoming PSC chair, President Ndayishimiye, thanked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda for playing a vital role in ensuring peace and security in the region and lauded the peace process facilitator, former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, for the job well done in ensuring that DRC gains stability.