Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of regional diplomatic efforts to secure peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UK Government is committed to supporting efforts to build stability and reduce violence in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) including through the UN Peacekeeping Mission MONUSCO, where the UK contributed £51 million in 2022/23, and have allocated £48 million for 2023/2024. The UK welcomes continued engagement from countries in the region. The UK strongly believes in the primacy of political process and we reiterate our support for the regionally led Nairobi and Luanda peace processes, which aim to counter the spiral of violence in eastern DRC. We continue to urge all parties and countries in the region to deliver on their commitments to revitalise these political processes and to turn commitments into tangible action to address shared security challenges, improve humanitarian access and reduce violence. The UK remains strongly of the view that dialogue, not violence, is the only way to achieve lasting peace in eastern DRC.