United Nations, United States
Sunday, December 22, 2024

On Friday, the UN Security Council renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a further year, even as it began to gradually disengage from the country at Kinshasa’s request.
As of August 2024, 14,000 military and police personnel are deployed in the DRC as part of Monusco, one of the UN’s most expensive peacekeeping missions, with an annual budget of over one billion dollars.
These forces are to withdraw at Kinshasa’s request, while the east of the country is in the grip of a rebellion led by the “M23” (March 23 Movement), which, according to UN experts and several countries, is backed by Rwanda.
The resolution adopted unanimously on Friday extends “until December 20, 2025 the mandate of Monusco in the DRC”.
It also stresses that the Security Council supports “a more flexible and gradual approach to the withdrawal of Monusco, taking into account local security conditions”.
After 25 years of presence, the departure of the Blue Helmets had been formalized in December 2023 by the Security Council, despite its concerns over the escalation of violence in eastern Congo.
The Congolese government had called for this accelerated withdrawal, deeming the UN force ineffective in protecting civilians from the armed groups and militias that have plagued the eastern DRC for three decades.
Monusco already withdrew from the eastern region of South Kivu in June, but its forces are still deployed in the neighboring territories of North Kivu and Ituri.
No date has been set for a total withdrawal from the country.
The resolution approved on Friday also limits the size of the force to 11,500 military personnel, 600 military observers and officers, 443 police officers and 1,270 members of formed police units.
The resolution also expresses the Council’s concern at “the continuing violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the continuing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC”.
It states that “the DRC continues to suffer from recurrent and evolving cycles of conflict, and persistent violence on the part of foreign and national armed groups” – but does not go so far as to accuse Rwanda of supporting the M23 or of having its own forces in the DRC.
The Rwandan authorities deny the involvement of their troops alongside the M23 rebels in North Kivu.

Humaniterre