For more than three decades, recurring violence in the Great Lakes Region of Africa has claimed millions of lives, displaced countless communities and repeatedly threatened regional stability. Despite successive peace agreements, mediation efforts and international interventions, conflict in eastern DR Congo and its wider repercussions remain unresolved and the persecution of Congolese Tutsi totally ignored by the international community. Among the many actors engaged in seeking solutions is the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes ICG, a relatively little-known but influential diplomatic forum whose role merits closer scrutiny.
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Unlike the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), an African organisation established by treaty and composed of countries from the region itself, the ICG is an informal grouping of Western countries and the European Union. It emerged from the international mobilisation that followed the devastating conflicts that engulfed Central Africa in the 1990s and early 2000s. Its principal objective has been to coordinate the policies and diplomatic engagement of its members regarding peace and security in the Great Lakes Region.
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The ICG is composed of representatives from Belgium, Denmark, European Union, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
Over the years, it has supported numerous initiatives, including the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for DR Congo and the Region, the Luanda and Nairobi Processes, as well as more recent mediation efforts involving the African Union, Qatar, and the United States. Through regular consultations and joint statements, it has sought to maintain a coherent international approach towards the region.
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However, after more than two decades of engagement, an uncomfortable question arises: what tangible achievements can be directly attributed to the ICG?
The answer is not straightforward.
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The group has undoubtedly helped maintain international attention on the region and facilitated coordination among major external partners. It has consistently advocated dialogue, ceasefires, humanitarian access and confidence-building measures. However, it cannot claim ownership of any major peace agreement, nor has it succeeded in preventing the recurrence of armed conflicts in eastern DR Congo.
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This does not mean that the ICG has failed. Rather, it raises questions about the limits of a model that appears to prioritise crisis management over conflict resolution. Too often, peace initiatives have followed a familiar cycle: violence erupts, diplomatic pressure intensifies, ceasefires are negotiated, implementation falters, and hostilities resume. New mediation processes then replace old ones, without addressing the underlying causes of instability. And they seem to be comfortable with this.
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Some observers argue that the international community, including ICG members, has sometimes adopted inconsistent approaches towards the various actors involved.
Others suggest that external engagement has occasionally overshadowed African ownership of peace processes. There are also concerns that insufficient attention has been paid to the continued presence of negative armed forces, weak governance, illicit exploitation of natural resources and persistent regional mistrust.
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These criticisms should not obscure the fact that the ICG itself possesses neither military power nor legal authority. It cannot impose solutions. Yet, its members collectively wield considerable diplomatic, economic and political influence. With such influence comes responsibility.
Perhaps the time has come for the International Contact Group to evolve from being primarily a forum for diplomatic coordination into a genuine catalyst for sustainable peace.
First, the group should place greater emphasis on supporting African-led mechanisms, particularly those of the African Union, the East African Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. Durable peace cannot be imported; it must be owned by the countries and peoples of the region.
Second, greater consistency is needed. All sources of insecurity, regardless of their identity or political affiliations, should be addressed according to the same principles. Selective approaches only deepen mistrust and undermine credibility.
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Third, the ICG should advocate stronger implementation and accountability mechanisms for peace agreements. Too many accords have failed because violations carried few consequences.
Fourth, economic cooperation and regional integration should become central pillars of peacebuilding. Shared prosperity creates incentives for stability that military arrangements alone cannot provide.
Finally, the voices of ordinary citizens, women, youth and civil society should receive greater attention. Peace cannot be sustained solely through negotiations among governments and diplomats.
The Great Lakes Region does not suffer from a lack of peace initiatives. It suffers from a lack of lasting solutions. If the International Contact Group is to leave a meaningful legacy, it must help shift the emphasis from managing recurring crises to building enduring peace.
History will judge international actors not by the number of statements issued or meetings held, but by whether future generations in the Great Lakes Region inherit a future defined by cooperation rather than conflict. That remains the challenge and, perhaps, the unfinished mission of the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes.
The writer is a political and diplomatic analyst specialising on Africa and countries of the Great Lakes Region.
