7662nd Security Council Meeting: Maintenance of International Peace and Security

Security Council expresses regret over slow implementation of commitments under peace, security, cooperation framework for great lakes eegion 7662nd meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 00:19:53
• Production Date: 31 March 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION STABILIZATION MISSION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - MONUSCO
• Subject Topical: INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY; ARMED GROUPS; ARMED CONFLICTS; RADICALISM; CHILDREN; YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO; GREAT LAKES REGION; RWANDA; UGANDA
• MAMS Id: 1593707
• Parent Id: 1593051

Description

The Security Council today expressed regret over the limited progress in implementing national and regional commitments under the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, stressing that signatory States must carry out those obligations in order to achieve lasting peace.

In a statement (document S/PRST/2016/2) read out by Council President Ismael Abraão Gaspar Martins (Angola), the 15-member Council reiterated the importance of neutralizing all armed groups in country’s eastern part, particularly the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the various Mai Mai groups, in accordance with resolution 2277 (2016).

The Council called for the immediate resumption of joint operations between the Government and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in order to bring about the complete neutralization of all armed groups. It also called for the country to strengthen collaboration with neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda so as to ensure the repatriation of former combatants of the 23 March Movement (M23) to Rwanda and Uganda.

While welcoming the credible and peaceful conduct of elections in some States in the region, the Council noted that electoral processes in other regional countries had raised deep concerns about the risk of instability, insecurity and violence. It urged regional support for initiatives to promote inclusive dialogue among national stakeholders, stressing the importance of opening political space for the free participation of peaceful political parties, civil society and the media.

Gravely concerned about the continuing illicit exploitation of, and trade in, natural resources of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council urged signatory States of the Framework, as well as regional organizations and the international community, to coordinate efforts to undercut the economic lifelines of armed groups benefiting from such exploitation.

The Council underscored that solutions to the prevailing situation in the Great Lakes region should form a regional perspective in addressing the root causes of conflicts. Many of those causes were regional in nature, with cross-border issues linked to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo assuming crucial significance due to large flows of natural resources, migrants and refugees, as well as the activities of armed groups and criminal networks.

The Council stressed that the forced displacement of millions of people was a key driver of conflict in the Great Lakes region.

The meeting began at 10:26 a.m. and ended at 10:43 a.m.