24th meeting of the Technical Support Committee of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region

Co-chairs of the 24th Technical Support Committee meeting on 16-17 July 2019 (from left to right: Franck Okuthe of the ICGLR, Huang Xia of the UN, and Gonzague-Patrick H. Balagizi of the AU). Photo: UN/Aaron Kakunza

18 Jul 2019

24th meeting of the Technical Support Committee of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region

Nairobi, 17 July 2019 - The 24th meeting of the Technical Support Committee of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on 16-17 July.

The meeting was co-chaired by Huang Xia, United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, as well as by a representative from the African Union and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). Other participants were from the signatory countries of the Addis Ababa Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement.

The meeting:

took note of the positive dynamics to enhance cooperation in the region, particularly with the Tripartite Summit between the leaders of Angola, the DRC and Rwanda, as well as the Quadripartite Summit between Angola, the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda;

took note of ongoing preparations for elections to be held in Burundi in 2020 and welcomed the decision by Burundian authorities to fund the country’s elections without external support;

welcomed the signing of the peace agreement between the Central African Republic Government and 14 armed groups on 6 February 2019, and called for continued regional support to encourage the signatories to sustain their efforts towards the full implementation of the agreement;

with regards to Sudan, welcomed the agreement reached on transitional arrangements between the Military Council and the civilian coalition on 17 July 2019;

welcomed the new opportunities to advance regional cooperation on security matters, especially on the neutralization of negative forces in eastern DRC following recent consultations between the president of the DRC and some leaders in the region;

welcomed the convening on 5-6 June 2019 in Kinshasa of a meeting of chiefs of intelligence and security services from Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Tanzania, which reviewed the security situation in the region and shared information on the negative forces;

welcomed the new opportunities to advance economic integration and cooperation in the Great Lakes region, including through the recent launch of the operational phase of the African Free Trade Agreement.

The participants agreed to hold their next meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on 10-11 September 2019.

The Technical Support Committee was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 26 May 2013 by the Regional Oversight Mechanism members of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement for the DRC and the Region to help define the benchmarks and follow-up measures for the implementation of the agreement. The Regional Oversight Mechanism is the main oversight body under the Framework agreement. It meets once a year at head of State and Government level to review progress in the implementation of national and regional commitments under the Framework agreement signed on 24 February 2013 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.