Written by Lisa Murimi
In a powerful show of diplomacy against a backdrop of heartbreak and hardship, Bintou Keita, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, held talks on Friday with leaders of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in the beleaguered city of Goma.
The meeting marked a rare moment of dialogue in a region ravaged by violence. Since M23 fighters seized Goma in January, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, entire towns emptied, and lives shattered.
Keita, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, flew into the eastern warzone with what she called “a spirit of listening and exchange.”
Photos showed her team face-to-face with the Congo River Alliance—an alliance that includes the M23—discussing what she described as joint efforts “for the benefit of the population.”
Though short on specifics, the statement hinted at a fragile hope for peace.
But the cost of conflict is written everywhere in Goma: schools shuttered, markets abandoned, hospitals overwhelmed.
Livelihoods have collapsed. Many public workers remain unpaid. The airports in Goma and Kivumu are silent, symbols of isolation in a region cut off from the rest of the country.
This fragile visit came just as 250 South African soldiers began returning home, marking the start of a phased withdrawal by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
They were part of a regional force sent to support the Congolese army—20 of their comrades never made it home.
In a meeting Saturday, Keita and a top SADC commander reaffirmed their solidarity in the face of unimaginable loss.
As war grinds on in Congo’s mineral-rich east, Friday’s summit was a glimmer of humanity—tenuous but essential—in a conflict that has already taken too much.
