Regional African leaders on Sunday signed a U.N .-mediated peace deal aimed at ending two decades of conflict in the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the signing of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The deal was signed in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The UN chief expressed hope that the framework will lead to an era of peace and stability for the peoples of the country and the region.
The agreement was signed by leaders of Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic and South Sudan, and representatives of three other countries in the region, reports said.
Ahead of the signing of the new peace deal, the top United Nations official there warned that the security situation is unstable, and urged the Security Council to provide the necessary support and authorization for an additional military brigade force within the current UN peacekeeping force.
Roger Meece, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, said the situation in the south-eastern province of Katanga has reached "alarming proportions," with a major humanitarian crisis that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates to include 316,000 displaced people.
The security deterioration in Katanga is related to the stepped-up activities of Mayi Mayi leader Gédéon, who escaped from prison in 2011, and associated militias such as Kata Katangais and others, Meece explained.
Meece said that while there has been a general pause in the offensive operations of the M23 Movement since their temporary occupation late last year of North Kivu provincial capital Goma, there is also no evidence that the forces are pulling back or changing their military posture.
Clashes between the fighters from the M23 and the DRC's national army (FARDC) have displaced nearly a million people in North Kivu.
The M23 rebels say they want to improve living conditions for the people of eastern DR Congo, but the UN says they are supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
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