The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has approved the deployment of a force to DR Congo as a regional response to restore peace and security in the east of the country.

The decision was announced on Monday, May 8, after a meeting of SADC leaders held in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

According to the communique read after the summit, the deployment will be part of "immediate regional support” to the government of DR Cong to "address the prevailing security situation” in the country’s east ahead of national elections later in 2023.

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The summit was attended by Presidents Hage Geingob, the host, Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, as well as representatives of other heads of state in the region.

Eastern DR Congo already has troops from five countries of the East African Community (EAC), whose regional force deployed in December 2022. Under a bilateral arrangement, Uganda also has troops in the country’s Ituri province. The EAC regional occupies positions vacated by the M23 rebels.

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In March, Angola’s President Joao Lourenço announced his country would send troops to DR Congo under a bilateral arrangement with Kinshasa.

The SADC summit "approved a common position to have a more coordinated approach, given the multiple deployments under multilateral and bilateral agreement arrangements in eastern DR Congo,” the bloc&039;s executive secretary, Elias Magosi, said as he read the communique.

The summit also urged the Congolese government to put in place necessary conditions and measures for effective coordination amongst sub-regional forces and bilateral partners operating in DR Congo.

"We stand ready, as a region, to address the changing dynamics in eastern DRC, mainly because of the resurgence of the M23 since last year, the proliferation of illegal armed groups, some of which launch attacks against civilians, state security agencies and public infrastructure from neighbouring countries,” President Geingob said.

Geingob said SADC defence chiefs carried out a field assessment in March 2023 in eastern DR Congo.

"The outcome of the assessment will help us better understand the current situation, and will guide our interventions, moving forward,” he said.