The Togolese President and African Union mediator for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) crisis, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, convened a two-day strategic review in Lomé on June 7-8, 2026, to assess the progress of African-led mediation efforts amid persistent regional tensions.

The high-level gathering brought together the AU Facilitators’ Panel, representatives from the United Nations, East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The meeting evaluated the implementation of the mediation framework adopted in Lomé on January 17, 2026, which coordinates efforts alongside parallel processes in Washington and Doha led by the United States and Qatar respectively.

Key strategic directions for H2 2026

According to the Togolese presidency, the closed-door deliberations resulted in several critical decisions:

• Strengthened internal coordination between the Mediation Office, Facilitators’ Panel, AU Commission, and Independent Joint Secretariat
• Development of an African contribution to complement the Washington and Doha tracks for enhanced legitimacy and implementation
• Call for unified action among all mediation stakeholders while respecting individual mandates within the Lomé framework

Immediate implementation measures

The assembly adopted urgent steps to bolster mediation effectiveness:

• Revision of facilitators’ work plans for the second half of 2026
• Creation of a 15-day operational action plan detailing implementation modalities

“With renewed collective will and shared responsibility, participants committed to diligently implementing these decisions to achieve lasting peace in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region,” stated the Togolese presidency.

This follows the January 16-17, 2026 Lomé summit that established the mediation architecture under Gnassingbé’s leadership, supported by five former African heads of state focusing on military-security, humanitarian, armed group dialogue, economic cooperation, and civil society/reconciliation issues.

The framework includes an Independent Joint Secretariat (Togo, AU, EAC, SADC, ICGLR) with AU Commission coordinating international partners including the UN, EU, and UN Security Council’s P5 members.