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Fragile Ceasefire Holds in Eastern DR Congo

After months of fighting and rising tensions across the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the region is enjoying "a fragile lull", including an improvement in relations between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday, april 19, 2023.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed by armed groups, which "continue to sow terror" said the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, Huang Xia, who briefed the council.

However, he stressed that "serious risks remain" and the withdrawal of M23 fighters from areas it has recently occupied in the east, "remains partial."

He highlighted the important role of two diplomatic tracks that are working to produce a negotiated settlement inside and outside the borders of the DRC - the so-called Luanda Process and the Nairobi Process.

He reiterated that the "social and humanitarian consequences of this situation are disastrous", fuelling a seemingly endless cycle of tensions between communities in the region, and proliferation of hate speech.

Some 600,000 people are displaced in North Kivu alone, while 38,000 more Congolese became refugees between October 2022 and February 2023.

InFocus

MONUSCO

Peacekeepers from the UN's MONUSCO mission patrol in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (file photo).

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