The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO is a peacekeeping mission that was established through two UN Security Council resolutions 1279 and 1291 in 1999 and 2000 for the peace monitoring process after the Second Congo War. However, the mission’s main focus turned to the conflict-prone regions of Ituri, Kivu, and Dongo. Since its inception, over $8 billion has been spent by the international community to fund the UN peacekeeping mission and efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (UN Peacekeeping, 2018). By October 2017, approximately 18,300 UN peacekeeping troops were in DRC alongside over 1,400 police officers and about 3,400 civilian personnel. Further, over thirty countries have contributed troops and police officers for the peacekeeping mission in one of the world’s most volatile and conflict regions. India is the largest contributor to military personnel.
Background to MONUSCO
In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that led to the brutal killing of over 1 million people, about 1.2 Hutu rebels fled to the neighboring Kivu region in the eastern part of DRC for fear of revenge attacks from the Tutsis. However, in 1996 a rebellion started between Laurent Kabila (rebel leader) against President Mobutu Sese Seko with the former taking power in Kinshasa in 1997 and renaming the country Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) with the aid of Rwanda and Uganda. In 1998, a rebellion against the Kabila government began in the Kivu region and the rebels seized large parts of the country UN Peacekeeping, 2018. President Kabila was promised military support by African states like Chad, Namibia, Angola, and Zimbabwe while the rebels got support from the Rwandese and Ugandan governments (UN Peacekeeping, 2018). Consequently, they maintained a strong hold on the eastern areas of DRC.
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The Security Council called for a ceasefire leading to the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in 1999 between DRC and five regional countries interested in the conflict. The Security Council established the UN’s Organization Mission in DRC (MONUC) through resolution 1279 in July 1999. MONUC’s mission was to observe the ceasefire agreement and disengagement of the forces (Better World Campaign, 2012). The organization was also mandated to maintain liaison with all parties involved in the Ceasefire treaty. Through other resolutions, the Council expanded MONUC’s mandate to include the supervision and execution of the Ceasefire Agreement and other related tasks. MONUC supervised the nation’s first free and fair elections in 2006 where President Joseph Kabila was elected the president after a run-off. In July 2010, the Council through its resolution 1925 changed MONUC to UN’s Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to mirror the country’s attainment of a new phase. The new mission is active till today and mandated to protect civilians, humanitarian staff, human rights activists and defenders under potential threat of violence, and offer support to the DRC Government in efforts to achieve peace and stability in the country (Better World Campaign, 2012). MONUSCO comprises of military personnel, military observers, police officers and appropriate civilian, judicial and correction personnel. Through a raft of resolutions, the UN’s Security Council has approved, renewed and increased MONUSCO’s mandate to ensure that the organization achieves its goals (UN Peacekeeping, 2018). In its latest resolution, the Council extended MONUSCO’s mandate to March 31, 2018 but with reduced military personnel.
I think MONUSCO was successfully since it enabled the warring parties to end war and go back to negotiation table. Further, MONUSCO has pacified the regions and helped DRC Government to take control of the vast eastern region with a lot of natural resources.
References
Better World Campaign (2012) Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO); Retrieved from
https://betterworldcampaign.org/u-n-peacekeeping/democratic-republic-of-congo-monusco/
UN Peacekeeping (2018) MONUSCO- United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the
DRC; Retrieved from https://monusco.unmissions.org/en/background
