A four-party summit of Africa's regional blocs has urged an immediate and unconditional removal of all armed factions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's eastern area in an bid to put an end to the country's protracted conflict.
The relevant сommunique was drawn up during a summit under the auspices of the African Union (AU) in the Angolan capital Luanda by the leaders of the East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The summit, presided over by Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who also serves as the chairman of the African Union, expressed concern regarding the non-compliance of the M23 to remove their forces from the occupied territories, as outlined in the Luanda Roadmap dated back to November 23, 2022.
"Progress [has been] made on the preparation for the pre-cantonment and cantonment sites for the disarmament of the M23 while underscoring the need to continue implementing the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration Community Stabilisation Programme for ex-combatant," the AU Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, stated.
In addition, the summit further called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to address the ongoing crisis.
Earlier this month, regional leaders hailed the SADC deployment of troops to the eastern DRC during a summit related to the situation in the DRC, and also held in Luanda.
According to the most recent forecasts by WFP, 25.8 million people in the DRC will experience severe food insecurity this year, which is the highest number across the globe.