KIGALI, Rwanda — President Paul Kagame met senior United Nations officials at Urugwiro Village in Kigali on Wednesday, September 2, for discussions centered on the persistent conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and its consequences for Rwanda’s national security.
According to the Presidency of Rwanda, President Kagame received James Swan, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, alongside Huang Xia, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region.
The meeting focused particularly on the underlying drivers of decades of instability in eastern DRC rather than treating the continuing violence solely as a succession of individual security crises. The Presidency said the discussions addressed “the root causes of the conflict in Eastern DRC” as well as its impact on Rwanda’s security.
For Rwanda, the question of regional security has long included armed groups operating from eastern Congo, particularly the terrorist group known as Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known as the FDLR. Rwanda has repeatedly identified the presence of the FDLR and its armed structures near Rwanda’s western frontier as a significant national security concern and has called for their complete dismantlement.
The talks with Swan and Huang are significant because both UN officials hold responsibilities directly connected to peace and security in the Great Lakes region. Swan heads MONUSCO, the UN mission mandated to support stabilization and the protection of civilians in the DRC, while Huang’s diplomatic mandate encompasses regional engagement aimed at advancing peace and cooperation among countries of the Great Lakes.
President Kagame has consistently maintained that durable peace in eastern DRC requires confronting the political, historical and security factors that have sustained instability in the region. Wednesday’s meeting reinforced Rwanda’s position that lasting solutions must address the causes of insecurity as well as its consequences.
The United Nations has similarly emphasized that the eastern Congo crisis cannot be resolved through military measures alone. UN diplomacy in the Great Lakes has traditionally combined political engagement, regional cooperation and efforts to address armed groups and other cross-border security challenges.
For the region, security guarantees remain an essential component of any durable settlement. Rwanda has been saying that peace arrangements must produce measurable action against armed organizations that threaten neighboring countries and communities, while regional governments must also fulfill their commitments under internationally supported peace processes.
The September 2 meeting therefore represents another high-level diplomatic engagement between Rwanda and the United Nations at a consequential moment for the Great Lakes region. By placing the root causes of the eastern DRC conflict and Rwanda’s security concerns at the center of discussions, President Kagame and the UN officials highlighted the importance of moving beyond short-term crisis management toward solutions capable of delivering lasting regional stability.
