DRC: Extraordinary SADC summit on insecurity in Southern Africa this saturday in Lusaka
The upcoming extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Lusaka, Zambia, scheduled for Saturday, March 23, has been outlined in a public statement released by the organization. This summit holds great significance for the overall security of Southern Africa.
According to the statement, the agenda of the summit will focus on «the security situation in the SADC region, particularly in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique».
The summit aims to provide an update on the progress of SADC missions, namely the SAMIDRC and SAMIM, which were deployed to support the governments of the DRC and Mozambique in restoring peace, stability, and paving the way for sustainable development.
The SADC mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) was deployed on December 15, 2023, to assist the Congolese government in efforts to restore peace and security in the eastern part of the country, plagued by armed groups.
The deployment of SAMIDRC was approved during an extraordinary summit of SADC Heads of State and Government on May 8, 2023, in Windhoek, Namibia, as a regional response to instability and deteriorating security in eastern DRC.
SAMIDRC comprises troops from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania, while SAMIM includes soldiers from Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
It is hoped that a definitive solution will emerge from this summit to effectively address this crisis, which is beginning to have far-reaching consequences that could spiral out of control.
