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UN / DRC
STORY: UN / DRC
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.02
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 FEBRUARY 2013, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
22 FEBRUARY 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Meece, Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“It has become increasingly clear that MONUC, now MONUSCO, has long operated consistent with a traditional UN peacekeeping model developed and based on a post-conflict environment. Unfortunately of course, as recent events have underscored a new, the environment in which the mission operates is much more and too often one of active conflict. Seeking to adapt a post-conflict peacekeeping model to this context has not been particularly satisfactory.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Meece, Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“I am convinced that a peace enforcement capability on the ground is a necessary component to help achieve the conditions necessary to obtain the engagements and commitments needed by all parties to permit a durable peace in the area to be established. As a specific proposal for this prospective force is finalized, likely utilizing military forces to be provided by SADC, I would strongly encourage the Council to give serious consideration to the proposal, its needs and requirements.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the United Nations:
“Strengthening MONUSCO’s mandate and rapid deployment of an intervention force is a major concern for my Government. This exercise, we all know, intends to respond to a real and urgent security need in the east of my country. After many appeals by the Government, the Secretary General of the United Nations and a number of partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally, believe that the question of strengthening MONUSCO’s mandate is the correct action and need the Security Council’s approval. The time is ripe for this.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
Ahead of a new peace deal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to be signed this weekend, the top United Nations official there warned today (22 February) that the security situation is unstable, and urged the Security Council to provide the necessary support and authorization for an additional military brigade force within the current UN peacekeeping force.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Roger Meece, said in his briefing to the Council spoke about the possibility of an additional military force or brigade within MONUSCO equipped with peace enforcement authorities beyond a traditional UN peacekeeping mandate.
Meece said the mission “has long operated consistent with a traditional UN peacekeeping model developed and based on a post-conflict environment” and recent events have underscored that “the environment in which the mission operates is much more and too often one of active conflict.”
He said he was “convinced that a peace enforcement capability on the ground is a necessary component to achieve the conditions necessary to obtain the engagement and commitments needed by all parties,” urging the 15-member Council to authorize such a force.
Congolese Ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta told the Council that strengthening MONUSCO’s mandate and a rapid deployment of an intervention force was “a major concern” for his Government, adding that the time was “ripe” for the Security Council’s approval of this expansion of the mission’s mandate.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to attend the signing of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region, scheduled to take place on 24 February in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agreement had been expected to be signed at the African Union summit in Addis on 28 January but was delayed over procedural issues.
In the south-eastern province of Katanga, the situation has recently deteriorated, with a major humanitarian crisis that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates to include 316,000 displaced people.
Clashes between the fighters from the M23 and the DRC’s national army (FARDC) have displaced nearly a million people in North Kivu.
To improve the protection of civilians in North and South Kivu provinces, the UN has proposed using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to collect information for the UN Force Commander and to promote deterrence.
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