The countries of the Great Lakes Region of Africa are, in addition to their geographical characteristics, bound together by their political interdependence. Since the collapse of the strongmen of the nineties and the genocide in Rwanda, all countries in this region have to various degrees been involved in the deadly conflicts on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Many have military intervened, either directly or through proxies, on each other’s territory and have hosted significant refugee populations. Efforts to address this ongoing cycle of conflict and displacement, include the establishment of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in 2008, however it remains a volatile region.