ICGLR Heads of State to discuss DRC Crisis in Kampala

As part of efforts aimed at find a lasting solution to conflicts in the region, the Executive Secretariat of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has convened an Extraordinary Summit in Kampala on 7-8 August, 2012 to discuss the security situation in Eastern DRC.

The meeting is a follow up of the ICGLR Heads of State Summit on the Security Situation in Eastern DRC held on 15 July 2012 in Addis Ababa.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit in Kampala will be preceded by the meeting of ICGLR National Coordinators and a Special session of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee (RIMC).

The meeting is also in spirit of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development signed by the ICGLR Heads of State in Nairobi, Kenya in 2006.

The Pact’s Article 5 (b) on the protocol on Non Aggression and Mutual Defence in the Great Lakes Region states that; Member states undertake to abstain from sending or supporting armed opposition forces or armed groups or insurgents onto the territory of other Member States, or from tolerating the presence on their territories of armed groups or insurgents engaged in armed conflicts or involved in acts of violence or subversion against the Government of another State.”

The ICGLR Heads of State Summit on the Security Situation in Eastern DRC held on in Addis Ababa on 15 July 2012 also directed that;“The appropriate structures of the ICGLR shall work with the AU and the UN for an immediate establishment of a neutral international force to eradicate M23, FDLR and all other negative forces in Eastern DRC and patrol and secure the Border Zones.”