The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) are calling for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to the escalation of the crisis in recent weeks in that region.

SADC and CAO are also calling for the restoration of essential equipment for food supply lines and other basic products to guarantee humanitarian support, according to an AIM publication.

The appeal was launched during the SADC-CAO Joint Summit of Heads of State and Government, which took place on Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Chiefs of Staff of the SADC-CAO Defense Forces should convene a meeting within the next five days to guide the decisions taken at the Joint Summit.

The publication states that the Joint Summit also calls for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, through the Luanda/Nairobi processes, which essentially aim to find lasting solutions to the crisis, preventing the deterioration of the humanitarian situation and the spread of violence.

The Chiefs of Staff of the SADC-CAO Defense Forces should provide technical guidance on the provision of humanitarian assistance, including the repatriation of the dead and evacuation of the wounded, including the development of a security plan for the Congolese city of Goma.

In addition to opening up the main supply routes, including the Goma-Sake-Bukavu route, the Goma-Kibumba-Rumangabo-Kalengera-Rutshuru-Bunagana route and the Goma-Kiwanja-Rwindi-Kanyabayonga-Lubero route, including navigation on Lake Kivu between Goma and Bukavu, the Chiefs of Staff should also study the immediate reopening of Goma Airport and provide advice on other facilitation-related interventions.

The Joint Summit called for the Luanda and Nairobi processes to be split in order to improve their complementarity, and mandated the Presidents of Angola, João Lourenço, and Kenya, William Ruto, in consultation with the African Union, to reflect on the possibility of appointing additional facilitators, including from other regions of the African continent, to support the merger process.

Also according to AIM, the summit calls for the implementation of the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) within the framework of the Harmonized Plan for the Neutralization of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the lifting of measures for the defence and demobilization of the Rwandan Defence Forces from the DRC, as agreed in the Luanda Process.

Finally, the Joint Summit directed that, within the next 30 days, a joint meeting of SADC and CAO ministers be convened to assess the calls made today.