Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) progress towards a resolution, (b) support civilians and (c) work diplomatically with regional partners to secure peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UK is committed to supporting the Luanda process which aims to bring about sustainable peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and encourages continued engagement and delivery on commitments by all parties. The postponement of the tripartite summit on 15 December was disappointing and the UK has urged both parties to return to the negotiating table. In August and September, Lord Collins visited Angola, DRC and Rwanda where he met with their respective presidents and urged de-escalation. The UK is delivering a three-year £115 million humanitarian programme in the east of DRC, providing life-saving emergency assistance and increasing the resilience of crisis affected communities.