The heads of state and governments of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) have welcomed deployment of the Intervention Brigade (IB) in the Eastern DRC under the auspices of MONUSCO. A Communique of the meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday said the SADC committee on politics, defence and security (Troika) summit received a progress report on the deployment of the Intervention Brigade in the Eastern DRC.

“The summit welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2098 of 28 March, 2013 which provides the mandate for the deployment of the Intervention Brigade (IB) in the Eastern DRC under the auspices of MONUSCO,” reads the communique in part.

It said the summit noted with appreciation the continued collaboration between SADC and the ICGLR, including the African Union and the UN on the deployment in the Eastern DRC.

“The summit urged the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 to continue with the Kampala talks with the view to concluding them expeditiously, to allow the people of the Eastern DRC to live in peace,” reads another party.

It further reiterated its call for urgent attention to be given to the grave humanitarian situation in the Eastern DRC. In another development, the summit commended South African President Jacob Zuma, who is also the SADC facilitator on Zimbabwe Political Dialogue for his efforts towards full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in Zimbabwe.