15th June 2011

From 14 to 20 May, Congo Now coalition member the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes region of Africa (APPG), based in the UK parliament, organised a cross-party, cross-House delegation of MPs and a Peer for a five day visit to the DRC.

The visit, made possible by funding from fellow Congo Now members Christian Aid and CAFOD and by additional funds from International Alert and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), took delegates to Kinshasa and Goma, where they met with a wide variety of stakeholders, including members of the Congolese political classes and civil society, religious leaders, representatives from the DRC’s Ministry of Mines and many more.

The delegation, composed of APPG Vice-Chairs Lord David Chidgey and Nicola Blackwood MP and APPG member Stephen Twigg MP, focused mainly on the context of the upcoming elections in DR Congo, the management of the DRC’s mineral resources, refugee returns and repatriation of ex-combatants and the causes of and potential solutions to sexual and gender-based violence.

The APPG will publish its report shortly and hopes to organise a public launch, location and time to be confirmed. If you would like to be notified of the event and are not already on the APPG newsletter mailing list, please sign up on the APPG website.