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UN / DRC MONUSCO
STORY: UN / DRC MONUSCO
TRT: 05:21
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
11 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, SRSG Bintou Keita addressing Council
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
“We are today at an important crossroads in the relationship between the United Nations and the DRC, but also an important moment for the country itself.”
5. Wide shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
“The report before you provides an update on the situation on the ground, marked by steady progress in the electoral process. It also highlights the continued and escalating insecurity in the East, especially related to the renewed M23 crisis, but also the emergence of new pockets of insecurity in other parts of the country, notably the Greater Katanga region as well as Mai-Ndombe and Tshopo provinces. Unfortunately, since its publication, the situation has further deteriorated in North Kivu.”
7. Wide shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
“The tensions between the DRC and Rwanda remain extremely high and the risk of a military escalation between the two countries remains significant, despite regional and international efforts to smooth the tensions. In this regard, I congratulate the government for having officially prohibited all relations between the FARDC and the Rwanda Democratic Liberation Forces, the FDLR. The expansion of the joint operation Shujaa between the Congolese armed forces and Ugandan armed forces in the north of the province, has put the armed group ADF under pressure without however, preventing new attacks against civilians.”
9. Wide shot, DRC Ambassador Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja addressing Council
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“MONUSCO despite its scale, 20,000 and police since 2016, 16,000 men deployed presently in Congo to support and backstop the efforts of the government was unable to end the infernal cycle of the massacres of civilians, egregious, massive violations of human rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as the illicit exploitation in full sight of the natural resources of the DRC by foreign armed groups. Quite to the contrary, these atrocities have continued, and they were magnified in the east of the DRC, specifically in the Ituri province in North Kivu, and South Kivu.”
11. Wide shot, Council
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“The MONUSCO disengagement plan, which we agreed upon, includes the withdrawal of MONUSCO. This is not an end in and of itself. The Security Council shoulders the responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and will remain seized of the situation in the DRC. And the Security Council cannot end its commitment to upholding security and ending the insecurity plague in the east of the DRC. You possess the legal and the political and logistical capability to compel all of the recalcitrant parties to fully implement the roadmap emanating from the Nairobi and Luanda processes and thereby to end that dangerous, bogging down that is currently underway at the security level.”
11. Wide shot, Rwanda Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo addressing Council
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ernest Rwamucyo, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Rwanda:
“Rwanda reiterates that the solution to the security challenges in the DRC cannot be found in blame games, or externalizing DRC as internal problems. The solutions lie in inclusive and constructive dialogue, regional cooperation, cessation of hostilities, and prioritizing the well-being of the civilians. Rwanda remains committed to the ongoing regional efforts to stabilize the eastern DRC and we look forward to working together for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.”
13. Wide shot, end of meeting
14. Pan left, Keita walks up to stakeout podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
“In the context where a plan has been proposed to the Security Council, the negotiations going on in terms of the renewal of the mandate, we hope that it's going to take into consideration the agreement, the joint agreement, which has been made by the Congolese authorities and ourselves, as the United Nations and MONUSCO, and we hope that the way we have in build flexibility, in the disengagement plans, the regular evaluation, quarterly evaluation, is going to be helpful in reassuring everyone that one of the visions that DRC has is to be able to say to the world, there is a model withdrawal of a peacekeeping mission for the country.”
16. Pan right, Keita walks away
In the context of continued violence, upcoming elections and the withdrawal of the MONUSCO peacekeeping force from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the country today (11 Dec) said, “we are today at an important crossroads in the relationship between the United Nations and the DRC, but also an important moment for the country itself.”
Presenting the latest report of the Secretary-General on the DRC to the Security Council, Bintou Keita, who is also the Head of the MONUSCO peacekeeping force, said the report provides “an update on the situation on the ground, marked by steady progress in the electoral process” and also “highlights the continued and escalating insecurity in the East, especially related to the renewed M23 crisis, but also the emergence of new pockets of insecurity in other parts of the country, notably the Greater Katanga region as well as Mai-Ndombe and Tshopo provinces.”
Unfortunately, she added, since the publication of the report, “the situation has further deteriorated in North Kivu.”
The Special Representative said, “the tensions between the DRC and Rwanda remain extremely high and the risk of a military escalation between the two countries remains significant, despite regional and international efforts to smooth the tensions.”
In this regard, she commended government efforts that “has put the armed group ADF under pressure without however, preventing new attacks against civilians.”
In his address to the Council, Congolese Ambassador Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja said, “MONUSCO despite its scale, 20,000 and police since 2016, 16,000 men deployed presently in Congo to support and backstop the efforts of the government was unable to end the infernal cycle of the massacres of civilians, egregious, massive violations of human rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as the illicit exploitation in full sight of the natural resources of the DRC by foreign armed groups.
Quite to the contrary, he said, “these atrocities have continued, and they were magnified in the east of the DRC, specifically in the Ituri province in North Kivu, and South Kivu.”
Nzongola-Ntalaja said, “the MONUSCO disengagement plan, which we agreed upon, includes the withdrawal of MONUSCO. This is not an end in and of itself. The Security Council shoulders the responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and will remain seized of the situation in the DRC. And the Security Council cannot end its commitment to upholding security and ending the insecurity plague in the east of the DRC. You possess the legal and the political and logistical capability to compel all of the recalcitrant parties to fully implement the roadmap emanating from the Nairobi and Luanda processes and thereby to end that dangerous, bogging down that is currently underway at the security level.”
For his part, Rwandan Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo said, “Rwanda reiterates that the solution to the security challenges in the DRC cannot be found in blame games, or externalizing DRC as internal problems. The solutions lie in inclusive and constructive dialogue, regional cooperation, cessation of hostilities, and prioritizing the well-being of the civilians. Rwanda remains committed to the ongoing regional efforts to stabilize the eastern DRC and we look forward to working together for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.”
Outside the Council, Keita spoke to reporters and said, “in the context where a plan has been proposed to the Security Council, the negotiations going on in terms of the renewal of the mandate, we hope that it's going to take into consideration the agreement, the joint agreement, which has been made by the Congolese authorities and ourselves, as the United Nations and MONUSCO, and we hope that the way we have in build flexibility, in the disengagement plans, the regular evaluation, quarterly evaluation, is going to be helpful in reassuring everyone that one of the visions that DRC has is to be able to say to the world, there is a model withdrawal of a peacekeeping mission for the country.”
On 21 November, in Kinshasa, the Congolese Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Francophonie, Christophe Lutundula, and Keita, co-signed a note on the accelerated, gradual, orderly and responsible withdrawal of MONUSCO from the DRC, containing a plan and a timeline for the complete disengagement of the Mission in the country.
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