Senior military, police, and civilian officers from regional countries started on 6 March 2013, Political Affairs Course at Rwanda Peace Academy, Nyakinama.

The RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Charles Kayonga who opened the course said that it is very important because it will enhance scientific analysis and understanding of national, regional, and international political issues particularly those related to conflict and emerging security threats and challenges. Lt Gen Kayonga said that "FDLR and its genocide ideology is one single most cause of insecurity in Great Lakes Region".

The FDLR has been in DRC since 1994 after committing genocide in Rwanda where it has caused immense suffering to the Congolese and the region at large. FDLR does not only kill and rape at will in the entire region of South and North Kivu. FDLR has led to the formation of several Congolese Armed groups some in self-defense and others militia allied to it such as NYATURA and VUTURA, Hutu armed groups that are currently notoriously killing and expelling Tutsis from North Kivu areas of Masisi and Rutchuru.

The Political Affairs Course is attended by 28 participants from Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, and the Republic of Sudan, Uganda as well as the Eastern Africa Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM) officials.

The course was organized by Rwanda Peace Academy in partnership with the EASFCOM and sponsored by GIZ, the Germany International Cooperation.

RDF Senior Leaders with Course participants