The Community of East African States (EAC) announced Tuesday that armed groups and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will hold peace talks in January in eastern DRC, following three previous meetings in Kenya.
This announcement was made at the end of the third session of the “inter-Congolese dialogue”, which brought together for eight days in Nairobi representatives of some 50 armed groups, the government and civil society.
The M23 rebellion, which is leading an offensive in the east of the country and which Kinshasa describes as a “terrorist” movement, is not participating in these discussions.
“A meeting will be held in January in Goma and Bunia to assess progress and begin to address the medium and long-term agenda,” the EAC, which is mediating the talks, said in a statement.
Participants also reiterated their agreement to a “continued cessation of hostilities as well as the release of child soldiers and humanitarian access,” the organization added.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made. We are not saying that we have finished everything, but we have passed certain stages,” said, without further details, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is working as a “facilitator” of the Nairobi process.
“I hope that when we meet again in Goma – that should be between January and February – we can report on the progress on the points we agreed on here,” he added.