Former president Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday called for urgent humanitarian support to help thousands of internally displaced people (IDP) and disrupted communities whose lives have been upended by continued fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of the Nairobi-IV.
Uhuru, who is the facilitator of the East Africa Community (EAC)-led Nairobi process on the restoration of peace and stability in the eastern DRC called for special attention to be given to children, women, and the disabled.
“The facilitator once again calls for urgent humanitarian support, particularly from the local and international humanitarian organizations, to tens of thousands of suffering IDPs and the disrupted communities whose lives and livelihoods have been upended by the continued fighting and targeted attacks in eastern DRC,” said a statement from his office.
He urged the countries in East African Community Region Force (EAC-RF) to deploy and take urgently and without further delay throughout the eastern DRC, and in the case of northern Kivu, for the regional force to interpose itself between the fighting forces in areas where the withdrawal of the armed groups has been effected.
Rising violence in the area has refocused attention on the long-running conflict in the region primarily between the Congolese army and the reconstituted rebel group M23.
More than 100 armed groups operate in eastern DRC, an unsettled region where conflict has raged for decades but has escalated in recent months.
Fueling the insecurity is a complicated brew of geopolitics, ethnic and national rivalries, and competition for control of eastern DRC’s abundant natural resources.
As the preparations for Nairobi-IV gear up, Uhuru called upon all the parties to implement the outcomes of Nairobi-II in order to build confidence and to embed commitment from the respective communities in the eastern DRC to the Nairobi Peace Process.
“The facilitator also welcomes the call for the cessation of hostilities and ceasefire by all the fighting elements in the eastern DRC and once again calls for the adherence to the Luanda Agreement that was re-enforced by the Bujumbura Communique and requests that all the armed groups lay down their arms immediately and cease and desist from any further hostilities and urges in particular, the M-23 to withdraw to the points agreed through Luanda Process,” the statement said.
