Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, confirmed that the ministerial talks will take place in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 17, 2025.
During the summit, the ministers will review a report prepared by the chiefs of defence staff from EAC and SADC, who met in Dar es Salaam on February 24, regarding the cessation of hostilities in eastern DRC and ongoing humanitarian operations.
Additionally, the meeting will focus on preparing a framework for political talks between the DRC government and its adversaries.
The EAC and SADC ministers' meeting follows decisions made by the heads of state of the two organisations during their extraordinary summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 8, 2025.
The meeting comes amid plans for the phased withdrawal of SADC troops from eastern Congo.
On March 13, 2025, an extraordinary summit of SADC heads of state reaffirmed that political dialogue is key to ending the conflict in eastern DRC, ahead of proposed talks between the Congolese government and M23 in Angola, scheduled for March 18.
The heads of state decided to withdraw SADC troops from DRC after nearly a year and four months of deployment. The troops include soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/politics-48/article/eac-sadc-ministers-to-meet-for-talks-on-drc-security
