The threat to regional security posed by armed groups in eastern swathes of DR Congo, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is expected to feature prominently on the agenda of the 22nd Ordinary Assembly of Afircan Union in Addis Ababa that opens today. 

President Paul Kagame will join other African Heads of State and Government for the summit that opens on the back of a daunting report by Oxfam, an international charity group, that said the current optimism around developments in eastern DR Congo should not sway regional leaders from pushing for full peace in the swathes of the war-ravaged country as most areas still remain under the control of armed groups.

Oxfam on Monday released a briefing paper on DR Congo in which it said the defeat of the M23 rebels last year was only a first step toward stability but there were other groups to contend with.

The FDLR is a brutal group comprising remnants of people mainly accused of masterminding the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The group continues to form alliances in what appears as a calculated bid to veil its genocidal ideology.

The M23 was only one of many armed groups operating in eastern DR Congo, Oxfam says, adding that much of the rest of North and South Kivu provinces remain under the control of other armed groups that expanded into the security vacuums in the vast country.

‘Defeat of M23 not enough’

The defeat of M23 is a change in the political and military context but, Oxfam says, "military victory is not the end goal.”

According to the author, Hannah Cooper, as 2014 starts, there are reasons to hope that peace may be in sight in eastern DR Congo, but the people Oxfam talked to reported that their situation remains precarious, particularly in remote areas where there is little state presence.

"When the FDLR arrive in an area, they murder with machetes and guns. Those with money are spared. They steal everything they see,” an unnamed male person in Mwenga territory of South Kivu Province is quoted as saying. 

Cooper’s briefing paper includes recommendations for action by: the DR Congo government; regional and other governments; the African Union; Monusco; and the Special Envoys or Coordinators to the Great Lakes region from the UN, AU, EU and the US.

It recommends that governments should maintain commitments to regional stability declared in the peace, security and cooperation framework (PSCF) for DR Congo and the region, among others.

Dubbed "framework of hope,” the PSCF was signed by African leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 24, 2013. Its grand objective is to promote peace, security and stability in the DR Congo and the entire great lakes region.

Key outcomes to be presented to the Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa include a committment from the African Union member states to fund African Union activities by 2015, to create a roadmap for the next next fifty years and to work to increase unity among states and decrease interference by external factors.

The 22nd Ordinary Assembly of the African Unions will discuss issues ranging from the MDGs post 2015 to peace and security on the continent, including the situation in Central African Republic and South Sudan.