Seoul, Feb 1 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for dialogue among all parties to restore peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The bloc expressed concern that the recent attacks continued to worsen the security and humanitarian situation in the DRC, said a communique issued at the end of the SADC Heads of State and Government summit held in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, on Friday.
It condemned the attacks on the SADC Mission in the DRC troops by the M23, an armed group operating in the eastern DRC, saying such actions violated the ceasefire that was brokered through the Luanda Process on July 30, 2024, and undermined peace and security of the DRC and the SADC region, reports Xinhua news agency.
The regional body called for immediate restoration of essential utilities such as water, electricity, means of communication, and supply lines for food and other essential commodities in the war-torn region.
In his closing remarks, Southern African Development Community Chairperson and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for lasting peace in the DRC and for all parties to the conflict to embrace dialogue and peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms.
"It is the individual and collective duty of all member states to do much more towards permanently silencing the guns if we are to succeed in achieving these aspirations," Mnangagwa said.
He urged the international community to scale up the provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected population and augment ongoing peace and security efforts in eastern DRC.
While calm is being restored in Goma, the key eastern city in the DRC, the risk of disease outbreaks, including cholera and Mpox, increases on the outskirts, according to United Nations officials.
"In Goma, currently, the situation remains tense and volatile, with occasional shooting continuing within the city, but I would say that overall, calm has been gradually restored," said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix at a press briefing on Friday.
"Water and electricity have been restored in much of the city, but we continue to grapple with the challenge of unexploded ordnance … a very serious obstacle to freedom of movement," he said.
Runways at the city's airport sustained significant damage in the recent fighting and are unusable. Aid cannot be flown in as only roads into neighbouring Rwanda are open, and the domestic arteries are closed.
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