26 09 13 COMMUNIQUÉ OF SECOND MEETING OF REGIONAL OVERSIGHT MECHANISM OF PEACE, SECURITY AND COOPERATION FRAMEWORK FOR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND REGION

The
Heads of States, Heads of Government or representatives of the following
signatories participated in the meeting:  Democratic Republic of the Congo;
Angola; Burundi; Republic of the Congo; Rwanda; South Africa; South Sudan;
United Republic of Tanzania; Uganda; and Zambia.

 

The
Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the International Conference
on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) also participated in the
deliberations.

 

We
reaffirmed our respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of all the countries in the region.

 

We
strongly condemned the resumption of hostilities by the M23, which have resulted
in numerous civilian casualties and caused extensive damage in the occupied
areas and in the city of Goma, including the repeated attacks against the Armed
Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the peacekeepers of the
United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) and the humanitarian
workers.  We condemned the shelling on the territory of Rwanda.  We further
condemned all negative forces, including the Mayi Mayi, the Democratic
Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), the National Army for the Liberation of
Uganda (NALU) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), latest action of the
latter having led to continuing massive internal displacements and flow of
refugees.

 

We
commended Yoweri Museveni, Chairperson of ICGLR, for his tireless efforts
towards a negotiated solution to the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of
the Congo and urged the parties to bring the Kampala Dialogue to a swift
conclusion, in line with the decision of the Seventh Extraordinary Summit of the
Heads of State and Government of the ICGLR, held on 5 September
2013.

 

We
welcomed and encouraged the other ongoing political dialogue initiatives in the
region, in particular the quadripartite “Oyo” process.

 

We
welcomed and encouraged the efforts of Joseph Kabila Kabange and the Government
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in developing and adopting national
benchmarks under the Framework as well as the progress accomplished in the
reforms, which complement and mutually reinforce the regional
commitments.

 

We
welcomed the work of the Technical Support Committee (TSC) in drawing up
regional benchmarks and indicators of progress with clearly identified
responsibilities and timelines for the implementation of the
Framework.

 

We
adopted the final report of the TSC, including the regional benchmarks.  We also
welcome the progress made in developing the international benchmarks and
encourage the TSC to work closely with the international partners with the view
to refining those benchmarks.  We further requested the TSC to develop a
detailed plan of action for the implementation of the Framework, in close
coordination with existing regional, international and national
mechanisms.

 

We
welcomed the recent visit of a team led by Mary Robinson, Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General for the Great Lakes, and comprising Martin Kobler, the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Boubacar Diarra, Special Representative
of the Chairperson of the African Union for the Great Lakes, Koen Vervaeke,
Senior Coordinator of the European Union for the Great Lakes, and Russ Feingold,
Special Envoy of the United States for the Great Lakes, to support regional
efforts.

 

We
requested the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region,
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and Head of MONUSCO, the Special Envoy of the United States for the
Great Lakes, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union
for the Great Lakes, and the Senior Coordinator of the European Union for the
Great Lakes, to provide political and technical support to the Kampala Dialogue
to swiftly conclude the Dialogue. 

 

We
requested the United Nations System to urgently find a definitive solution to
the former M23 combatants interned in eastern Rwanda since March
2013.

 

We
commended the ICGLR and SADC for their continued joint efforts in promoting
peace and security in the Great Lakes region and looked forward to their
upcoming joint Summit.

 

We
appealed to international development partners to work towards the provision of
immediate peace dividends on the ground, through quick impact projects at local
and regional levels targeting, in particular, women and youth as well as through
other relevant projects of the ICGLR and the Economic Community of the Great
Lakes Region (CEPGL).

 

We
welcomed the establishment of a multi-country multi-donor trust fund to support
the implementation of priority programmes and projects and urged the Special
Envoy to use her good offices to promote and gather international support for
the implementation of the Framework..

 

We
expressed our gratitude to the partners and friends of the Great Lakes who
continue to show interest and support to the countries of the region and called
on the partners to work in close collaboration with the co-witnesses to support
the implementation of the Framework.

 

We
took note of the requests by the Governments of Kenya and Sudan to join the
Framework and agreed to welcome these two countries at the forthcoming meeting
of the Regional Oversight Mechanism.

 

We
extended appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission for co-hosting this important
meeting and expressed our deep gratitude to the Heads of State in the region for
their participation.

 

We
agreed to meet again on the margins of the Twenty-second Summit of the African
Union in Addis Ababa in January 2014 to review the implementation of the
Framework further.

 

Finally,
we strongly condemned the deplorable act of terrorism committed in the Westgate
Mall in Nairobi on 21 September and expressed our deepest condolences to the
Government and people of the Republic of Kenya