The Operational Cell of the Contact and Coordination Group (CCG) held its annual strategic retreat from 23 to 27 February 2026 in Kampala, Uganda. Organized by the Office of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary‑General for the Great Lakes Region (OSESG‑GL), with support from the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) and the UN Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, DDR Branch (PBPSO/DDRB), the retreat brought together technical experts from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, along with representatives of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the European Union and a Togolese delegation representing the African Union mediation.
The meeting focused on repositioning the Operational Cell within a changing regional context, aligning its work with the Doha and Washington tracks, and defining operational priorities for 2026. Participants also benefitted from exchanges with practitioners from Mozambique, Nigeria and the Bridgeway Foundation, who shared comparative lessons from the Lake Chad Basin, Cabo Delgado and ADF‑related contexts. These discussions strengthened South‑South cooperation on disengagement, prevention of violent extremism and community‑based sensitization.
A field visit to the Kasese Centre for Peace and Security provided first‑hand insight into defection and reintegration processes. Former Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) elements described their trajectories out of violence, including transit, screening and reception from the DRC to Uganda and return to their communities, offering practical understanding of voluntary disengagement dynamics.
Participants underscored the urgency of operationalizing the Operational Cell, including through a time‑bound temporary deployment in Uganda pending its permanent establishment in the DRC. They also highlighted the need to finalize the voluntary repatriation of the Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL) elements located in Uvira, DRC, recommending a joint verification mission to Uvira and Bujumbura to assess caseloads and support Burundi in completing the legal reintegration framework.
The ADF was assessed as a persistent cross‑border threat, marked by recruitment networks, financial pipelines, technological adaptation and child association. Participants endorsed advancing a regional anti‑ADF strategy with harmonized screening and repatriation procedures, structured defection pathways, strengthened strategic communications, disruption of facilitation networks, tailored rehabilitation for children and enhanced intelligence sharing.
The retreat concluded with agreement on a draft 12‑month roadmap to operationalize and deploy the Operational Cell, reinforce regional coordination and align CCG work with ongoing peace processes. The roadmap will be submitted to the Heads of Intelligence and Security Services and the guarantor institutions of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework (PSC-F), with a recommendation to convene Defence and Interior ministries to consider the regional DD/RR Standard Operating Procedure.
