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STORY: UN / DRC MONUSCO
TRT: 02:32
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 31 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
31 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Various shots, Security Council observing moment of silence
3. Med shot, President of the Security Council
4. Pan left, Security Council voting
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“When we look at these peacekeeping missions what we need to focus on is it’s not the number of people we have on the ground, it’s the quality of the work that’s happening on the ground. And so what we are seeing is an area where, yes we can have thousands and thousands of troops, but if they’re not really working to keep the Congolese safe, none of that matters.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations:
“The circumstances surrounding this attack must now be thoroughly investigated. The four Congolese citizens that remain unaccounted for must be found. Sweden fully supports the investigation by the UN and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure that the facts are established and that those responsible are held to account.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Bermúdez, Deputy Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations:
“We would like to emphasize that the reduction in the authorized personnel in MONUSCO decreed in this resolution is sharply divorced from the reality on the ground. Mr. President, Uruguay considers it essential that UN resources are indeed used in the most effective and efficient way, nonetheless, in this particular case we are penny-pinching over a peacekeeping operation who’s operational mission has shown no signs of improving.”
10. Wide shot, Tanzanian Foreign Minister approaching stakeout
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Augustine Mahiga, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, United Republic of Tanzania:
“We have noticed that these negative forces, new and old, are employing totally new tactics which were never there which are bordering on terrorism, low intensity guerrilla insurgency, but also fetish violence that was never there. So the intervention force needs to be more creative to deal with this. And of course, we shouldn’t forget the ideology of genocide in the Great Lakes region has not disappeared.”
12. Zoom out, Tanzanian Foreign Minister shaking hands with reporter
The Security Council unanimously voted today (31 Mar) to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) after negotiations which led to the reduction of the mission’s troop cap.
The resolution reduced the troop ceiling to 16,215 while asking the mission to maximize its flexibility by deploying rapidly deployable units, specialised capabilities, including information-gathering assets and specialised infantry. It also set the priorities of MONUSCO to protect civilians and “support to the implementation of the 31 December 2016 agreement and the electoral process.” It also requested that the Secretary-General conduct a strategic review of the mission examining the continued relevance of all mandated tasks, priorities and related resources, as well as necessity to the mission’s adapt the mandate to the specific needs of the post-elections phase and provide the Council with options to reduce the number of troops in the mission by the end of September.
United States ambassador Nikki Haley said the focus should not be on the number of troops on the ground in the peacekeeping mission, rather on the “quality of the work that’s happening on the ground.” She said the focus of the resolution was to keep the civilians safe and address the political problems facing the DRC in an effort to reach long term stability in the country and stressed that this resolution made the mission stronger and more effective.
Uruguayan ambassador Luis Bermúdez emphasized that the reduction in troops was “sharply divorced from the reality on the ground.” He said while it is essential that UN resources are used in the most effective and efficient way, “in this particular case we are penny-pinching over a peacekeeping operation who’s operational mission has shown no signs of improving.” He stressed the importance that the reduction in the troop ceiling did not affect the protection of civilians in the DRC.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga said the reduction in the troop ceiling would not affect the intervention force. He said the force would be given additional assets such as greater mobility with armoured personnel carriers and helicopters. He said the force had proven effective in fighting “negative forces” who were employing a number of new tactics “which are bordering on terrorism, low intensity guerrilla insurgency, but also fetish violence.” He said it should not be forgotten that “the ideology of genocide in the Great Lakes region has not disappeared.”
Prior to the meeting Council members stood for a moment of silence for the two UN experts who were killed in Kasai. American Michael Sharp and Swedish Zaida Catalan’s bodies were found this week after the two and their Congolese driver went missing two weeks ago.
Addressing the Council, Swedish ambassador Olof Skoog said the attack on the experts must be “thoroughly investigated” adding that his government “fully supports the investigation by the UN and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure that the facts are established and that those responsible are held to account.”
