![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2gzWcAAmckmnew.jpg\")
The meeting came a day after Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe held talks with Kenyatta in Kigali on the work of the Panel of Facilitators and efforts to advance the peace process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AU delegation had earlier held consultations in Goma on October 5 as part of its efforts to support the AU-led mediation process. The delegation, led by Sahle-Work, met representatives of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus (EJVM) and the AFC\/M23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The consultations covered the peace process as well as the security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC. The Panel called for continued political dialogue and engagement in good faith under the Doha process between the Congolese government and AFC\/M23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also urged the parties to respect ceasefire commitments, cooperate with verification mechanisms and avoid actions that could undermine the peace process. The Panel further called for the protection of civilians and humanitarian access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AU has continued to push for greater coordination among the various peace initiatives in eastern DRC. In February 2026, the AU Assembly endorsed the work of the five-member Panel of Facilitators and called for intensified diplomatic engagement to sustain ongoing peace processes and support de-escalation of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The broader peace efforts include the Doha process between the DRC government and AFC\/M23, alongside the Rwanda-DRC peace framework negotiated in Washington. Under the Washington framework, the DRC is expected to neutralise the FDLR in line with the agreed operational plan. Rwanda maintains that the militia group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi remains a security threat. In return, Rwanda is expected to lift its defensive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AU has said lasting peace in eastern DRC depends on political and diplomatic engagement, implementation of peace agreements and protection of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Paul Kagame on Wednesday met with members of the African Union Panel of Facilitators supporting the peace process in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as efforts continue to advance a political solution to the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000128359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000128354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000128359,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","alt":"Kagame, AU panel of facilitators discuss eastern DRC peace efforts","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1500,"height":1186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","width":1500,"height":1186},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","width":1500,"height":1186},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","width":1500,"height":1186},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","width":1500,"height":1186},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg","width":1500,"height":1186}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000128354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000128360,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128354\/revisions\/2000128360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000128359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000128354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000128354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000128354"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000128354"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000128354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/HUCn2guWAAIKRyAnww.jpg\")