In 2013 governments of the region (include Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia) signed the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region (PSC Framework), which provides an important political platform for peace and security in the region and builds on the objectives of the 2006 International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Pact on Peace, Security and Development for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR Pact). Within these documents, Governments have signed up to various commitments including on strengthened regional cooperation and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries.

UN Resident Coordinators from International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) countries met in May 2014 in Kigali to discuss the appropriate response by the United Nations Country Team (UNCTs) to the crisis in the region in follow up to the joint visit to the region by UN Secretary-General and the World Bank President. They decided to launch a process for the preparation of joint regional strategy.

On 07 December 2015, Special Adviser Assistant Secretary-General Modibo Touré and UNDP Assistant Administrator/Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, co-chaired a meeting in Nairobi, with UN Resident Coordinators, Regional Directors and Country Representatives of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes as well as Heads of sub-regional organizations to review and move forward with the validation process of the 2016-2017 UN Regional Strategic Framework for the Great Lakes Region. The meeting provided the opportunity to positively evaluate the current state of formalization regarding this strategic framework and to confirm its relevance, its resilience, and chances of success based on ongoing developments in the region.