The SADC region has moved towards overall political stability following positive peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the definitive end of war in Angola.

Civil strife in these two neighbours -- geographically strategic for SADC -- have for long been an axis of regional instability that has threatened peace and security in the entire 14-member regional group.

The end of war in Angola and the steady moves toward stability in the DRC, is a major boost for the desired collective peace and security that SADC needs to push forward economic cooperation and integration.

SADC chairperson Benjamin Mkapa told a Heads of State and Governments Summit in Dar es Salaam in August this year that the regional body is determined to rise to the challenges facing the region and would work hard to ensure there is lasting peace in Angola and the DRC.

He said SADC has remained the most important regional front in finding answers to fundamental questions of economic development, peace and security in the region.

In Angola, the revival of the peace process on 4 April 2002, following the death of veteran rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, on 22 February 2002, has heralded a new era for the country and region.

In just a year since the end of war, Angola tops the entire SADC in economic growth rate, posting a favourable 13.8 percent growth in 2002, ahead of Mozambique, which has maintained the highest growth rate of 8 - 11 percent in recent years.

In the DRC, the successful formation of a broad-based government of national unity has significantly reduced hostilities and given the international community an opportunity to deploy an international peacekeeping force in a country that has known little peace since independence from Belgium in 1960.

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces, now numbering 10,800 have taken up positions to try to reduce conflict in the DRC.

Head of the United Nations Mission in Congo (MUNOC), former US ambassador William Swing, reported that the DRC was showing signs of a steady return to peace and security.

An agreement to end hostilities between forces of David Padri Bulenda's Mayi-Mayi militia and the RCD-Goma former rebel group -- both parties are represented in the power-sharing government -- was recently signed under the mediation of the MUNOC.

In Angola, the sustainable peace of the past year has given rise to a large-scale repatriation of refugees from Zambia, DRC and Namibia.

At least 5,000 ex-rebel fighters have been integrated into the regular Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) under the on-going reconciliation and reconstruction of a country damaged by 27 years of civil war.

From Zambia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has so far repatriated 16,827 refugees under the voluntary repatriation programme launched in July 2003. The UN refugee agency is sending at least 1,000 refugees back home from Zambia every week.

"The exercise has been smooth. Landmines in the route we are using have been cleared. This exercise, which is part of the consolidated regional programme involving Zambia, Namibia and the DRC, gives hope that there is progress in entrenching peace and security in the region," said Kelvin Shimo, UNHCR Zambia public information assistant.

An estimated 130,000 Angolan refugees have spontaneously returned home from different parts of the region in the past year.

Angolan diplomats in Lusaka say the peace process in their country is irreversible and that it is an important landmark for peace and stability in the entire SADC region.

Even opposition groups note that the peace process in Angola has taken a new dimension, which should not be frustrated. In a telephone interview from Luanda, the new president of the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), Isaias Samakuva said the Angolan peace process is in "top gear" and that Unita is determined to keep its commitment to peace and national unity.

"Peace in Angola means a lot for regional security and stability and the new Unita is on the move to add to the creation of a new era of democracy and freedom for all Angolans," said Samakuva, who was elected as party president in June this year.

The 4 April 2002 Memorandum of Understanding between the MPLA government and Unita was essentially the resuscitation of the landmark November 1994 Lusaka Peace Protocol signed by President José Eduardo Dos Santos and the late opposition leader Savimbi.

Zambian diplomats see the twin peace developments in Angola and the DRC as a huge triumph for the SADC region in its efforts to entrench collective peace and security in the region.

"The last two years have been momentous for SADC which sees regional integration and cooperation to be highly dependent on peace and security in the region," said Zambian Foreign Minister, Kalombo Mwansa.

"SADC is founded on the values of peace and security and economic development. Peace in our (Zambia's) neighbours assures us hope that we are going to have a more secure region and that is good for regional economic integration and cooperation," he said. (SARDC - SADC Today)

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