Faure Gnassingbé reaffirms commitment to peace in eastern DRC as African Union mediator

Togolese president and African Union mediator Faure Gnassingbé chaired a high-level meeting on Monday in Lomé to assess the first six months of mediation efforts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region, according to a statement from the Togolese capital.

The strategic session brought together African Union facilitators, international partners including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as representatives from regional organisations such as the East African Community, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Southern African Development Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

Gnassingbé welcomed the progress made in structuring the African mediation, particularly the advances achieved since the Lomé meeting dedicated to coherence and consolidation of the peace process in the DRC and the region.

“We have taken an important step since January by bringing more order to the architecture of the African mediation,” he stated. “I am convinced that this meeting marks significant progress in improving our collective action and in finding sustainable solutions to this crisis,” he added.

Beyond these achievements, however, the mediator emphasised the need to continue efforts to strengthen coherence and coordination among the various mediation mechanisms engaged in the peace process in this part of the continent, the statement noted.

While reaffirming his determination to pursue the mission entrusted to him by the African Union, Gnassingbé also called for sustained collective mobilisation in favour of stability in the DRC.

“We will continue this mission with humility, determination and perseverance. Despite the difficulties, we also see many good-will actors ready to support us in this search for peace,” he stressed.

To maintain the momentum generated by the mediator, the meeting approved measures to optimise mediation, including adjusting the work plans of the Panel of Facilitators for the second half of 2026 and developing, within two weeks, an operational action plan specifying the implementation modalities of the decisions taken.

With a renewed collective commitment, the participants pledged to implement these measures with “diligence and coherence.”