The Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) His Excellency Mr. Elias M. Magosi received a courtesy call from the United Nations Under-Secretary General for peace operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on 26 April 2024.
During the meeting H.E Lacroix reaffirmed the United Nations’ commitment to supporting peace keeping efforts aimed at restoring peace, stability, and security in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two engaged in discussions on possible options for the United Nations’ support to the peace processes in the DRC, where the resurgence of armed groups, including the M23 is causing untold misery to the people of the eastern DRC, with more than 3 million people mostly women, girls, and children being displaced.
On 15 December 2023 the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) was deployed to support the Government of the DRC to restore peace and security in the eastern DRC, which continued to witness an increase in conflicts and instability caused by the resurgence of armed groups. The deployment of the SAMIDRC is in accordance with the principle of collective self-defence and collective action outlined in the SADC Mutual Defence Pact (2003). The Pact emphasises that; "Any armed attack perpetrated against one of the States Parties shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security and shall be met with immediate collective action".
Four days later, on 19 December 2023 the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2717 on the situation in the DRC. Resolution 2717 extends the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO) until 20 December 2024, with a strategic priority to contribute to the protection of civilians, and underlines that the Mission’s withdrawal should be accompanied by a simultaneous strengthening of the State’s capabilities and authority, in particular the presence of State defence and security forces to avoid any security gaps.
The SADC Executive Secretary emphasised the need for cooperation between SAMIDRC and the UN peacekeeping mission in all the efforts to restore peace and stability in eastern DRC.
