The bloc's first-ever troop deployment to a member country will test its capacity to resolve complex conflicts.
As clashes escalated between the rebel March 23 Movement (M23) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) armed forces in North Kivu, the African Union (AU) on 30 October called for urgent dialogue between the two. The fighting has led to deaths and internal displacement as citizens flee the violence.
Under Kenya's leadership, the East African Community (EAC) has taken bold steps to resolve the crisis in eastern DRC. The bloc's diplomatic engagement comes after the DRC joined the EAC in March, becoming its seventh member state.
The decades-long conflict now comprises over 100 active armed groups. Its roots lie in the massive refugee crisis caused by Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which saw people and armed genocidaires moving into the region. As rebel groups flourished in the absence of a strong Congolese army and government, neighbouring Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi pursued their enemies and their economic interests in the restive region, taking advantage of its enormous natural resources.
On 20 June, former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta (now Kenya's peace envoy) convened a peace conference (the Nairobi Process) of EAC leaders. They undertook to...
