Monrovia, Liberia – H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, has expressed concern about the changing circumstances in the Great Lakes region, particularly the events in Cibitoke Province, Burundi, and South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
These conflicts and the violence against civilian populations, which the Chairperson deeply regrets, undermine the momentum created by the Doha Framework Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Alliance Fleuve Congo/Movements of 23 March (AFC/M23) and the Washington D.C. Agreement between the DRC and Rwanda.
He calls on all parties to exercise restraint and give priority to a political solution. In support of the impacted civilian populations in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Chairperson declares the African Union’s solidarity.
He restated the African Union’s long-standing stance that complete respect for each state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is necessary for long-term stability in the Great Lakes area. In this context, he restates the denunciation of any endeavor to create a rival government in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He also urges all states in the area to uphold their obligations under the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement and to completely abide by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region’s Pact on Non-Aggression and Mutual Defense.
The Chairperson concludes by reiterating the African Union’s willingness to collaborate closely with all regional and global parties in order to revitalize a regional security conversation with the goal of ending instability in the Great Lakes region.
