What You Need to Know
A joint team from the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region has been deployed to Eastern Congo. This initiative aims to assess conditions and prepare for a ceasefire monitoring mechanism amid ongoing tensions involving the Congolese government and the M23 movement.
Africa-Press. A joint statement issued on Tuesday revealed that the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region have sent a joint exploratory team to Eastern Congo to assess conditions and prepare for the launch of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.
According to the statement, the team will visit Uvira in South Kivu province from February 23 to 27 to evaluate the security, political, and logistical situations ahead of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, which is being mediated by Angola between the Congolese government and the “Congo River” alliance, which includes the M23 movement.
The statement added that the deployment followed consultations with the Congolese president and the head of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Félix Tshisekedi.
The primary goal of the joint mission is to ensure that future ceasefire monitoring is credible, secure, and practically implementable.
Viviane Van de Peere, the interim head of MONUSCO in Congo, stated that “effective monitoring of the ceasefire aims to reduce violence and create the necessary space for a lasting political solution.”
She noted that the UN stabilization mission in Congo will focus solely on monitoring the ceasefire in South Kivu, unlike North Kivu and Ituri, where the mission also protects civilians.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced prolonged conflict, particularly in the eastern regions, where various armed groups operate. The UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, has been active in the country since 1999, aiming to stabilize the region and protect civilians. Recent efforts to establish a ceasefire have been complicated by the involvement of multiple regional actors and ongoing violence, necessitating international oversight and support for peace initiatives.
