Pressure has continued to mount on the M23 rebels to reopen the Goma Airport in DRC to allow for humanitarian assistance to those affected following the recent fighting.
The airport, situated in Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province, is said to have been captured last week by the rebels at the height of the fights with the support of Rwandan troops.
In a statement issued after a joint ministerial meeting of the East African Community (EAC) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in Tanzania, calls were made to have the facility and other main supply routes reopened.
It was noted that the delivery of food, water, and medical aid for up to two million people has been greatly disrupted as a result.
The meeting was co-chaired by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and his Zimbabwe counterpart Amon Murwira.
Several hundred people have reportedly been killed in the hostilities, with tens of thousands more forced to flee their homes.
As part of the immediate plans, the meeting called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an unconditional ceasefire.
This will be monitored by the Chiefs of Defence Forces from all state and non-state parties from two blocs.
It was agreed that a securitisation plan for Goma and surrounding areas would be developed with immediate repatriation of those killed being ordered.
The leaders also called for the resumption of the Nairobi process and enhancement of structural coordination with the Lunda process that seeks to address the conflict in the country.
“To facilitate the implementation of the immediate interventions, a joint meeting of EAC-SADC Chiefs of Defence Forces will be convened within five days,” the statement reads in part.
They will be tasked with guiding the ceasefire negotiations and other facilitative interventions.
The ministers at the same time called for the establishment of a joint EAC-SADC political and security technical team to coordinate the implementation of decisions of the joint meetings.
A political dialogue, they said, will be employed in the search for solutions to the underlying causes of the conflict.
An elaborate road map detailing implementation measures including modalities of financing is set to be presented to the joint ministerial meeting within 30 days for consideration and approval.
