Will the region see sense in the Luanda road Map?d

 A delegation from the United Nations Security Council committee met with the Angolan facilitation on Friday, November 15, to discuss the achievements of the Luanda peace process instituted by the African Union (AU) to end tensions linked to the resurgence of the M23 in North Kivu.

Respectively chaired by Tete Antonio, Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Michael Kanu, Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the UN and Chairman of the Reference Committee, the meeting discussed the progress made, highlighting concrete efforts aimed at ensuring peace and security in the region, Angolan authorities report.

"The progress made in the scope of the Luanda process was analyzed. In this regard, it was indicated that the Luanda process, parallel to that of Nairobi, currently appears as the only platforms for dialogue for the resolution of the conflict that prevails in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo," mentions the final communiqué that sanctioned the meeting.

Before the UN representatives, the Angolan facilitation thus recalled that in its attempt to bring together the parties involved in the conflict, the DRC and Rwanda in particular, 5 ministerial meetings have already been organized in Luanda and have resulted in "concrete measures towards pacification, the will of the parties concerned to reach agreements, through the search for a consensus".

"Among the results obtained within the framework of the Luanda process, there is the establishment of a ceasefire between the parties involved in the conflict in the East of the DRC, which came into force on August 4, 2024 under the supervision of the reinforced ad-hoc verification mechanism," specifies Angolan diplomacy.

On this subject, the Congolese and Rwandan authorities have remained divided, even though, a few weeks ago, experts from the DRC, Rwanda and Angola developed and adopted the concept of operations (CONOPs), a strategic tool to facilitate the implementation and execution of these two defined plans.

Indeed, if Kinshasa understands by "disengagement of forces" the withdrawal of more than 4,000 Rwandan soldiers scattered in the DRC in support of the M23, according to the Congolese Prime Minister, Kigali rather refers to its soldiers placed near the Congolese border to deal with eventualities.

However, despite these points of disagreement, the Angolan facilitation said it informed the UN delegates that "the results obtained so far by the mediation reinforce Luanda's determination to continue negotiations with the aim of convincing the parties to analyze and study the proposed peace agreement."

Established by the African Union in early 2022, the Luanda process has been trying for several months to achieve de-escalation between the DRC and Rwanda, two states that have fallen into disgrace since the resurgence of the M23 in North Kivu.

Let us also recall that the United Nations Security Council Committee on the DRC, created in 2004 by Resolution 1533, is responsible for monitoring the application of sanctions imposed in the context of the conflict in the Congo.

It assesses expert reports, encourages dialogue between the parties concerned and supports efforts to resolve the conflict, thereby contributing to the security and reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.