HEADS of State of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) are today meeting in Dar es Salaam to address the worsening security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A statement by the Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation ministry said yesterday that the summit will further discuss and come up with resolutions to the issue as the DRC is a member of both the SADC and the EAC.

Rwanda is an EAC member, with SADC and the EAC making efforts at separate mediation initiatives styled as the Luanda and the Nairobi processes respectively.

The meeting was preceded by ministers who commenced their conference yesterday to lay the framework for commonly agreed areas on addressing the deepening humanitarian crisis and growing insecurity in the region.

The main problem is violence by hundreds of armed rebel groups even as the main focus is on the Rwanda-backed M23 well-equipped franchise, observers noted.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, who is also current SADC chairman, and EAC chairman President William Ruto of Kenya, will spearhead the deliberations.

Protagonists DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame told regional and international media of having agreed to participate in the talks.

A range of non-state actors will be on hand to provide a broader perspective on resolving the crisis, with troop-contributing countries to the SADC regional security efforts — South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi — expected to be closely involved in discussions.

Eastern DRC has been a battleground for decades with the M23 rebel group, essentially backed by Rwanda, escalating its takeover of small towns along with the strategic city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu that is closest to the Rwanda border.

The militia is advancing towards South Kivu province, threatening the city of Bukavu where it also finds numerous supporters owing to the ethnopolitical mix of the region, analysts affirm.

The conflict has left a trail of death, destruction and a worsening humanitarian crisis. Multiple armed groups, including M23, are vying for control of the region’s vast mineral wealth, fueling persistent instability.

The SADC-EAC summit is expected to chart a roadmap for peace, with both blocs leveraging their collective influence and resources to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the region.

With the world’s attention on Dar es Salaam, the summit’s outcome will be critical in determining the path forward for the DRC and the stability of the broader region, observers noted.