Top officials from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) held an urgent meeting today to address the worsening security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The meeting, announced by SADC on its social media platforms on Friday, brought together ministers to coordinate a regional response to the ongoing conflict.

The discussions set the stage for a major summit of SADC and EAC heads of state and government, scheduled for tomorrow in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The summit, co-chaired by Zimbabwe and Kenya, aims to strengthen regional efforts to restore peace and stability in the DRC, where violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

According to the ministers, over 400,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Goma, DRC, since the start of the year. They emphasised the need for robust political and diplomatic measures to support peace initiatives in the region.

This joint effort follows an emergency SADC summit held in Harare on January 31, where leaders raised concerns about the escalating violence in eastern DRC and called for immediate collective action to address the crisis.