Des éléments de a Brigade d’intervention de la Force de la MONUSCO en pleine démonstration de techniques de combat. La Brigade a été mandatée par le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies pour neutraliser tous les groupes armés dans la partie est de la R. D. Congo. Photo MONUSCO/Clara Padovan

By Gary  Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC   TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –    NEW YORK –  The Security Council has extended the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONSCO) for another year, maintaining the same level of troops.  By a vote of 14 in favor to none against, with 1 abstention (Russsia) the Security Council on Friday adopted resolution 2556 (2020)  under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.  The Council also decided that MONUSCO’s troop ceiling will remain at 14,000 troops, 660 military observers and staff officers, 591 police and 1,050 formed police units.  It further authorized the temporary deployment of up to 360 formed police units provided they are replacing military personnel.

Reiterating the importance of delivering on the Congolese Government’s commitments to pursue national unity, strengthen the rule of law and ensure respect for human rights, the Council decided that protecting civilians will remain MONUSCO’s top strategic priority.  To that end, it decided that the Mission will take all necessary measures to ensure effective, timely, dynamic and integrated protection of civilians under threat of physical violence in provinces where it is currently deployed, with a specific focus on eastern provinces.

There is a critical need for State institutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to provide more stability and safety for citizens facing multiple threats, the head of the UN mission there told the Security Council recently. 

Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), warned of heightened political tensions in the country, including fissures within the ruling coalition and a presidential threat to dissolve the national assembly. The UN official expressed concern over the situation in Eastern Congo, where “insecurity, grave violations of human rights and displacements continue to affect civilians, notably women and children”.   She updated that national and foreign armed group violence persists in the territories of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, which serve to “highlight the crucial role” of the MONUSCO force in expanding state authority and “deterring violence against civilians”.  

UN SECURITY COUNCIL  Endorsed Phased Drawdown of  MONUSCO

Credit: UN photo  MONUSCO /  UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) BMP armored vehicles on patrol.

The Council endorsed the Joint Strategy on the Progressive and Phased Drawdown of MONUSCO, as well as its planned withdrawal from the Kasaï provinces, in 2021 and progressively from Tanganyika in 2022, requesting that the Secretary-General proceed with the gradual transfer of the Mission’s programmatic activities to relevant partners.  To that end, it recalled the independent strategic review’s assessment that an absolute minimum transition period of three years is required for MONUSCO’s exit, which would involve implementation of the Government’s announced reforms to address structural drivers of conflict.

MONUSCO took over from an earlier UN peacekeeping operation – the United Nations Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) – on 1 July 2010. It was done in accordance with Security Council resolution 1925 of 28 May to reflect the new phase reached in the country.

The new mission has been authorized to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.