The Technical Support Committee of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region holds its 25th meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

Delegate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nairobi, Kenya. UN Photo/Aaron Kakunza

12 Sep 2019

The Technical Support Committee of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region holds its 25th meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi, 11 September 2019 - The 25th 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 10-11 September 2019.

 

The meeting was co-chaired by Huang Xia, United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Basile Ikouebe, African Union Special Representative for the Great Lakes region, and Zakary Muburi-Muita, Executive-Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The participants were from the signatory countries of the Addis Ababa Framework agreement.

 

The participants assessed the latest political and security developments in the region, and noted with encouragement the progress achieved since their last meeting in Nairobi on 16-17 July 2019, especially in the DRC, the Central African Republic and Sudan. They also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Rwanda and Uganda on 21 August 2019 to ease the tension between the two countries. Furthermore, they welcomed the ongoing preparations for the second meeting of the chiefs of Intelligence and Security Services of Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, to be held in Tanzania on 6-8 October 2019.

 

The Technical Support Committee members also heard a presentation by a group of civil society organizations from the Great Lakes region. The presentation highlighted the recommendations of their latest consultative meeting held in Nairobi on 7-8 September with the aim to strengthen the level of representation and participation of women and youth in decision-making bodies and processes, and to ensure their protection as well as the prevention of violence against women.

 

The Technical Support Committee meetings are the build-up to the Regional Oversight Mechanism meetings which are organized at heads-of-State level later in the year. The Technical Support Committee was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 26 May 2013, following the signing of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement for the DRC and the Region in February 2013. The Regional Oversight Mechanism is the main oversight body under the Framework agreement. It meets once a year to review progress in the implementation of national and regional commitments under the Framework agreement.