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UN / DRC MONUSCO
STORY: UN / DRC MONUSCO
TRT: 04:27
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 MARCH 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Tilt up, exterior UN Headquarters
29 MARCH 2022, NEW YORK CITY
2. Various shots, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“The intensification of the conflict with the M23 and the persistent activity of other armed groups, namely, the ADF, Zaire and CODECO to name but a few, continues to inflict untold suffering on civilians and to worsen a humanitarian situation, which is increasingly catastrophic.”
4. Med shot, DRC and Burundi ambassadors
SOUNDBITE (French) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“In North Kivu, in particular, clashes between the M23 and the FARDC have forced 900,000 people to flee their homes.”
5. Wide shot, Council
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“I condemn the persistent obstacles impeding humanitarian access. Here I namely condemnthe attack against an UNHAS helicopter in February. That attack has forced the WFP to temporarily suspend its flights in conflict zones.”
7. Wide shot, Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“While insecurity spreads, tensions between the DRC and Rwanda have continued to increase resulting in several cross border incidents. These confrontations pose severe risk of regional escalation.”
9. Wide shot, Council
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Georges Nzongola Ntalaja, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
“Please allow me to say a few words about the M23 movement, which can be so easily confused with the Rwandan army. We have seen some withdrawals recently, but we would like to draw the attention of this august body to the number of ceasefires which have already been broken. This shows you how versatile this movement is, as well as its very well identified backer. The Council has to remain vigilant here and bilateral and multilateral pressure has to continue until the full surrender of the movement and the full withdrawal of Rwandan forces from the Congolese territories they have attacked.”
11. Wide shot, Rwanda Ambassador Claver Gatete at the Council dais
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Claver Gatete, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Rwanda:
“Unfortunately, the situation continues to deteriorate due to the DRC is leaders lack of political will, agency and inaction. It has become evident that even though this conflict continues to inflict terrible suffering on the civilian populations, the government of the DRC is using it as a political stunt to obtain domestic support and silence opposition ahead of the upcoming elections.”
13. Zoom out Council
14. Pan left, Keita walks up to podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“We have a strong understanding that they are various expectations when it comes to the expectations first of the country towards the mandate of MONUSCO. And there are also some expectations that the Mission is going to be supporting financially and logistically the East African regional force, which is something which is not in the hands of the Mission in itself, it's going to be subjected to procedures and then discussions and debates in Addis with the African Union, Peace and Security Council, but also it's going to be debated among the members of the Security Council.”
16. Pan left, ambassadors walk up to stakeout podium
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
17. Close up, cameraman
29 MARCH 2022, NEW YORK CITY
SOUNDBITE (English) Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, France:
“We continue to be appalled by the prevalence of conflict related sexual violence. The violence is often used as a tactic of war with a tremendous impact on the survivors, their families and their communities. We encourage the authorities of the DRC to continue their efforts to end the cycle of impunity for these crimes, as part of a holistic national strategy on transitional justice.”
18. Pan right, ambassadors leaving stakeout
The United Nations top official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today (29 Mar) said, “the intensification” of the conflict in the Eastern DRC, “continues to inflict untold suffering on civilians and to worsen a humanitarian situation, which is increasingly catastrophic.”
Bintou Keita, who is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), told the Security Council that “in North Kivu, in particular, clashes between the M23 and the FARDC have forced 900,000 people to flee their homes.”
Keita condemned “the persistent obstacles impeding humanitarian access,” in particular the attack against an UNHAS helicopter in February which “has forced the WFP to temporarily suspend its flights in conflict zones.”
The MONUSCO Chief said, “while insecurity spreads, tensions between the DRC and Rwanda have continued to increase resulting in several cross border incidents. These confrontations pose severe risk of regional escalation.”
The DRC Ambassador,Georges Nzongola Ntalaja, told the Council that the M23 movement, “can be so easily confused with the Rwandan army.”
Nzongola Ntalaja said, “we have seen some withdrawals recently, but we would like to draw the attention of this august body to the number of ceasefires which have already been broken. This shows you how versatile this movement is, as well as its very well identified backer.”
The Council he said, “has to remain vigilant here and bilateral and multilateral pressure has to continue until the full surrender of the movement and the full withdrawal of Rwandan forces from the Congolese territories they have attacked.”
Rwandan Ambassador Claver Gatete for his part said, “unfortunately, the situation continues to deteriorate due to the DRC is leaders lack of political will, agency and inaction. It has become evident that even though this conflict continues to inflict terrible suffering on the civilian populations, the government of the DRC is using it as a political stunt to obtain domestic support and silence opposition ahead of the upcoming elections.”
Outside the Council, talking to reporters Keita said, “we have a strong understanding that they are various expectations when it comes to the expectations first of the country towards the mandate of MONUSCO. And there are also some expectations that the Mission is going to be supporting financially and logistically the East African regional force, which is something which is not in the hands of the Mission in itself, it's going to be subjected to procedures and then discussions and debates in Addis with the African Union, Peace and Security Council, but also it's going to be debated among the members of the Security Council.”
Before the meeting, French Ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière spoke of the recent Council trip to the DRC. He said, “we continue to be appalled by the prevalence of conflict related sexual violence. The violence is often used as a tactic of war with a tremendous impact on the survivors, their families and their communities. We encourage the authorities of the DRC to continue their efforts to end the cycle of impunity for these crimes, as part of a holistic national strategy on transitional justice.”
The Council issued a statement recalling its mission to Kinshasa and to Goma from 9 to 12 March 2023 reaffirming its “strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of the DRC,” and emphasising “the need to fully respect the principles of non-interference, good-neighborliness and regional cooperation” as well as encouraging the Government of the DRC “to continue the efforts undertaken to ensure its primary responsibility toprotect civilians within its territory and for the safety and security of United Nations personnel and assets.
The education of around 750,000 children has been disrupted in two most conflict-affected provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
New figures released by UNICEF show that between January 2022 and March 2023, at least 2,100 schools in North Kivu and Ituri provinces have been forced to stop operating because of the deteriorating security situation.
Insecurity has been especially damaging for the nearly 240,000 recently displaced children living in the vast camps around Goma. Violence by armed groups has forced thousands of families from their homes in search of safety, preventing their children from attending school.
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