Sustainable peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is indispensable to the stability and prosperity of our region. We stand firm in our resolve to end the conflict, halt the tragic loss of lives, prevent further displacement of communities, and protect property and livelihoods from destruction. At today’s Joint Virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), we took decisive steps to strengthen our collective peace efforts. The meeting endorsed the Framework for the Merger of the Nairobi and Luanda Processes, the Terms of Reference for the Panel of Facilitators, the Process Design for an Inclusive Mediation Process in eastern DRC, and other enabling instruments, to guide and resource this unified African-led initiative.(William Samoei Ruto, PhD)