KAMPALA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- African ministers are meeting in Uganda ahead of a regional summit on peace and security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region, scheduled for Wednesday.
Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday on X that the country is hosting the 12th High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security, and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the DRC and the region.
According to the ministry, the meeting, attended by foreign affairs ministers from member states, will center on the structural causes of instability and the recurring cycles of conflict in eastern DRC and the wider Great Lakes region.
Eleven countries in the region signed the PSC Framework in 2013, committing to national, regional, and international actions to consolidate peace and security in eastern DRC and to promote intergovernmental cooperation.
John Mulimba, Uganda's state minister for foreign affairs in charge of regional cooperation, told Xinhua by phone that the ministerial meeting precedes the summit of heads of state and government, which will be hosted by President Yoweri Museveni at State House in Entebbe, about 40 km south of the capital, Kampala.
"The ministers are meeting today [Tuesday]. We expect heads of state and government to attend the summit to discuss the security challenges in eastern DRC and the region," said Mulimba.
The summit comes amid a worsening political, humanitarian, and security situation in eastern DRC, driven by the resurgence and territorial expansion of the March 23 Movement rebel group.
The previous summit was held in Burundi in May 2023, where leaders assessed progress in implementing the PSC Framework's commitments toward regional peace and cooperation. ■