The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring Rwanda signed a key document on Monday (25 November), which they hope will pave the way for the advancement of the peace process in the DRC’s troubled east, ceasefire-broker Angola has said.
This key peace document signed by both sides, with Angola’s mediation, aims to address the conflict in eastern DRC that has displaced thousands since 2021, creating a humanitarian crisis. Despite ceasefire violations by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel militia that has seized swathes of the eastern DRC, diplomatic dialogue has continued between the two central African neighbors to date amid efforts to stabilize the unfolding humanitarian crisis. In early August, Angola managed to mediate a fragile truce that stabilized the situation at the front line. But two months later, the rebel group was on the march again, as it re-launched its localized offensives.
In early November, the DRC and Rwanda set up a committee to monitor ceasefire violations, led by Angola and including representatives from both neighboring countries. In the latest move to secure a lasting cease-fire, Kinshasa and Kigali’s foreign ministers approved a “key document” featuring a concept of operations, aiming to set out the terms by which Rwandan troops will disengage from the DRC territory, according to a statement by Angola’s foreign ministry. In August, the two central African neighbors drafted a plan that provided for the dismantling of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the militias fighting alongside the DRC armed forces against the M23, which was created by former ethnic Hutu leaders involved in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, as a precondition for Rwanda withdrawing its troops.