The Central African Great Lakes region is in the midst of a serious political and humanitarian crisis. The eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in particular is the scene of violent conflict. Among others, the Congolese army and the M23 militia supported by neighbouring Rwanda have been fighting each other since November 2021. The militia has taken over parts of North Kivu and is at the doorstep of the provincial capital Goma since February. The conflict has since fuelled tensions between the neighbouring countries of Rwanda on the one hand and the DR Congo and its ally Burundi on the other. In addition, the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has continuously been the scene of violent and armed conflicts between armed groups and Congolese state actors and their allies for over two decades. The civilian population bears the brunt of this situation, particularly in the province of Ituri, which borders Uganda, and in North and South Kivu.

Due to this extremely precarious security situation, there are around 5.8 million internally displaced persons, of which around 1.6 million have fled as a result of the M23 conflict. Regional peace processes, such as the Nairobi and Luanda processes, are at an impasse, while regional military interventions are increasing. Furthermore, everyday violence is on the rise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to the arming of parts of the civilian population by the central government, particularly in the provincial capital Goma.

We want to decrypt the current situation with our guests and discuss the following key questions based on input from Dr Paul-Simon Handy from the Institute for Security Studies: - What approaches and initiatives already exist and what are their strengths and challenges? - How can existing initiatives be strengthened? Which innovative approaches should be looked into ? - Which actors play a decisive role and how can peace actors be strengthened? - What role does the EU / Germany play?

Speakers: Jean Baptiste Bizimana (Association Modeste et Innocent (AMI)), Dr Paul-Simon Handy (Institute of Security Studies), Evariste Mfaume (Solidarité des Volontaires pour l'Humanité/SVH), Passy Mubalama (Action and Development Initiative for the Protection of Women and Children)

Moderation: Dr Antje Herrberg (College of Europe)

Venue: Deutscher Caritasverband, Reinhardtstraße 13, 10117 Berlin

Registration: please register by email at office@oenz.de