The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a peace deal in Washington, DC, to end years of fighting between the neighbouring countries.Meeting in the White House in the United States on Friday, foreign ministers from the two African countries signed an agreement brokered by the US and Qatar.
The deal would see Kinshasa and Kigali launching a regional economic integration framework within 90 days and forming a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days. Under its terms, thousands of Rwandan soldiers are to withdraw from DRC within three months.
It raises hopes for an end to fighting that has escalated with the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in DRC’s mineral-rich provinces of North and South Kivu this year. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more since January.
The escalation is just the latest in a decades-old cycle of tensions and violence, rooted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
“This moment has been long in coming. It will not erase the pain, but it can begin to restore what conflict has robbed many women, men and children of safety, dignity and a sense of future,” said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.
“So now our work truly begins,” she added at the signing, saying the agreement would have to be followed by “disengagement, justice, and the return of displaced families, and the return of refugees, both to the DRC and Rwanda”.
“Those who have suffered the most are watching. They are expecting this agreement to be respected, and we …
