M23’s Area of Influence (AOI) is mapped by IPIS using data from the ACLED incident reporting system, which is further supplemented with information from various regional and international media outlets, including Jeune Afrique, Reuters, DW, RFI, Radio Okapi, Actualité, La Prunelle, etc.

Each incident is analyzed manually to ensure accurate location mapping and to track any territorial changes. The locations of villages are referenced using OpenStreetMap (OSM), IPIS’ database, and local sources for geolocation.

Caveats:

It is important to highlight that defining M23’s Area of Influence (AOI) in this manner carries certain risks:

• If the main media channels do not report on incidents involving M23, those incidents cannot be considered when creating the maps.
• The AOI shapefiles are developed and adjusted for maps at a scale of 1:1500000, and as such, they cannot guarantee the accuracy of the frontlines within a margin of plus or minus 10 kilometres. In fact, in IPIS styling guidelines, we create a buffer to gradually fade out the outlines.
• Additionally, by linearly connecting individual incidents to form the area of influence, we introduce some error regarding the actual area of influence. This is because sufficient data may not be available for every region to accurately define the frontlines.

Therefore, the maps and shapefiles should not be seen as predominant frontlines and should not be used to determine whether specific villages or mines in the border regions of the AOI are under M23 control.

Any estimated areal extensions should be viewed as brief indications of M23’s Area of Influence (AOI) and potential territorial expansions rather than precise measurements of the area under M23’s control.