Uganda hosts key Great Lakes Peace Summit

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Uganda is hosting a landmark gathering of African leaders committed to advancing peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.

Specifically, it is the 12th High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Peace, Security, and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the region.

It got underway on Monday with a technical meeting and will conclude with a high-level session in Entebbe on Wednesday (May 28).

The closed-door summit, chaired by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has drawn high-level delegations and heads of state from 13 signatory countries across the Great Lakes region.

They include Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and the host nation, Uganda.

Also in attendance are top representatives from the four Guarantor Institutions of the PSC Framework, the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the United Nations, as well as key regional and international observers.

The meeting’s agenda is focused on addressing the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC, bolstering regional cooperation, and revitalising the PSC Framework, which was signed in 2013 to end decades of conflict in the region.

The document on the ongoing meeting outlines far-reaching commitments that are being discussed and endorsed by the African leaders to advance peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.

Tuesday’s discussions, which are taking place at Mestil Hotel in Nsambya, Kampala, are touching on cross-border security challenges, armed group activity, and the humanitarian fallout from continued violence.

Delegates will examine a new draft Action Plan prepared by the Technical Support Committee and refined by regional foreign ministers, aimed at breathing new life into the decade-old Framework.

A communique from the summit is expected to be released after the leaders conclude deliberations on the proposed Action Plan and other sensitive matters on Wednesday.