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STORY: UN / DRC
TRT: 7:30
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region:
“Given the gravity of the crisis, securing an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and agreeing to reopen humanitarian corridors should, in my view, be the primary issue on the agenda of discussions between all parties concerned, including women and youth, whom we hope to see among the parties to the dialogue. Political negotiations should quickly translate into a positive transformation of realities on the ground, so eagerly awaited by the people, particularly the women of Goma, Bukavu, Beni, and elsewhere, whom I had the honor of consulting, who want the guns to fall silent and humanitarian aid to reach them unhindered.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region:
“Despite declarations of intent, the ceasefire is still not effective, violations of international law and human rights persist, and the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, both in the DRC and in certain neighboring countries, notably Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda, which have seen an increase in the number of new arrivals from the DRC. This grim reality compels us, and should prompt us, to redouble our efforts to see how, collectively, we can transform recent political and diplomatic progress into an irreversible movement toward peace.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region:
“I call on the Security Council, through its deliberations today and through its usual diplomatic channels, to use all its influence and leverage to reiterate its support for the ongoing peace processes and to urge regional actors to work sincerely toward a final and lasting resolution to the crisis. Prioritizing respect for international law, as well as dialogue and compromise, should be an obligation for all parties, because the lives of civilians depend on it more than ever.”
8. Various shots, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund:
“Excellencies, I’d like to draw special attention to the most defining, and horrifying, feature of this conflict is the rampant violence being committed against children and women. Scores have been killed or injured. There has been a 100 per cent increase in verified grave violations in the first quarter of this year, as compared to the first quarter of 2024. These include indiscriminate attacks, large-scale recruitment and use of children, collective abductions of children, as well as widespread sexual violence. The rate of sexual violence against children has reached shockingly high levels.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund:
“UNICEF estimates that during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict in eastern DRC, a child was raped every half an hour. This clearly points to a systemic crisis in which rape and other forms of sexual violence are being used as a weapon of war to destroy lives, families and communities.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund:
“DRC also remains the epicentre of the outbreak of the new mpox strain. Unsurprisingly, the mpox response continues to be heavily impacted by the conflict. For example, most of the 143 mpox patients in isolation units in Goma had to flee for safety, making it nearly impossible to provide them with care, and increasing the risk of the disease spreading, including beyond the DRC’s borders. At the same time, healthcare facilities have been overwhelmed, and medical supplies are being quickly depleted – including Post-Exposure Prophylaxis or PEP kits used to treat rape survivors who may have been exposed to HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (French) Téte António, Minister for External Relations and Chairperson of the Executive Council of the African Union:
“In this context, the African Union Commission was directed to develop, in consultation with relevant parties, a unified roadmap for the mediation process. Building on the progress achieved through the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and in this way reaffirmed the leadership of the African Union in resolving conflicts in Africa. We welcome the diplomatic initiatives of the United Nations, other international organizations and countries of goodwill that are interested in contributing to the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa as long as they are aligned with and coordinate with the EU agenda.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, State Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International cooperation and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“The time for implementing resolution 2773 is long overdue. The M23, along with its backers, must now comply with the authority of this Council by immediately, fully and unconditionally withdrawing from the Congolese territory, ceasing all obstruction of humanitarian operations and the execution of MONUSCO's mandate, and halting all attacks on civilians, displaced persons, camps, hospitals and schools.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, State Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International cooperation and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“Ground level monitoring, especially of ceasefire and compliance with Council resolutions, lies at the heart of United Nations peacekeeping. MONUSCO, In that context, remains the most appropriate and capable extension of the Council's presence in the field. It remains to this day the only entity with the mandate, presence and operational capacity to fully carry out that role. The DRC reiterates its full confidence in the United Nations and its representations in the DRC and the region. We firmly condemned the repeated baseless and undignified attempts to delegitimize the UN, its missions and their leadership. Attacks systematically spearheaded by Rwanda.”
20. Wide shot, Security Council
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Kayinamura, Chargé D’affaires, , Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations:
“The DRC must confront its internal contradictions, externalizing or scapegoating Rwanda for its own problems will not solve the problem. Blame games have become their business. But this is just a painkiller. They must own up this issue.”
22. Wide shot, Security Council
UNICEF estimates that during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one child was raped every half an hour, Catherine Russell, the head of the Agency said, stressing “a systemic crisis in which rape and other forms of sexual violence are being used as a weapon of war to destroy lives, families and communities.”
The Security Council today (16 Apr) held a meeting on the situation in the Great Lake Region with a focus on the humanitarian situation in DRC.
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, said that given the gravity of the crisis in the country, “securing an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and agreeing to reopen humanitarian corridors should, in my view, be the primary issue on the agenda of discussions between all parties concerned, including women and youth, whom we hope to see among the parties to the dialogue.”
Huang said, “Political negotiations should quickly translate into a positive transformation of realities on the ground, so eagerly awaited by the people, particularly the women of Goma, Bukavu, Beni, and elsewhere, whom I had the honor of consulting, who want the guns to fall silent and humanitarian aid to reach them unhindered.”
The Special Envoy also said, “Despite declarations of intent, the ceasefire is still not effective, violations of international law and human rights persist, and the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, both in the DRC and in certain neighboring countries, notably Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda, which have seen an increase in the number of new arrivals from the DRC.”
“ This grim reality compels us, and should prompt us, to redouble our efforts to see how, collectively, we can transform recent political and diplomatic progress into an irreversible movement toward peace,” the UN senior official highlighted.
He called on the Security Council, through its deliberations today and through its usual diplomatic channels, “to use all its influence and leverage to reiterate its support for the ongoing peace processes and to urge regional actors to work sincerely toward a final and lasting resolution to the crisis.”
“Prioritizing respect for international law, as well as dialogue and compromise, should be an obligation for all parties, because the lives of civilians depend on it more than ever,” Huang reiterated.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell drew special attention to “the most defining, and horrifying, feature of this conflict is the rampant violence being committed against children and women.”
She said, “Scores have been killed or injured. There has been a 100 per cent increase in verified grave violations in the first quarter of this year, as compared to the first quarter of 2024. These include indiscriminate attacks, large-scale recruitment and use of children, collective abductions of children, as well as widespread sexual violence.”
“The rate of sexual violence against children has reached shockingly high levels,” she stressed.
Russell also highlighted that DRC remains the epicentre of the outbreak of the new mpox strain.
“Unsurprisingly, the mpox response continues to be heavily impacted by the conflict,” she said, “most of the 143 mpox patients in isolation units in Goma had to flee for safety, making it nearly impossible to provide them with care, and increasing the risk of the disease spreading, including beyond the DRC’s borders.”
The UNICEF chief also said, “healthcare facilities have been overwhelmed, and medical supplies are being quickly depleted – including Post-Exposure Prophylaxis or PEP kits used to treat rape survivors who may have been exposed to HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.”
For his part, Téte António, Minister for External Relations and Chairperson of the Executive Council of the African Union spoke via video link.
He said that the African Union Commission was directed to develop, in consultation with relevant parties, a unified roadmap for the mediation process.
“Building on the progress achieved through the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and in this way reaffirmed the leadership of the African Union in resolving conflicts in Africa,” António added.
He welcomed the diplomatic initiatives of the United Nations, other international organizations and countries of goodwill that are interested in contributing to the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa “as long as they are aligned with and coordinate with the EU agenda.”
For her part, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, senior official from the Democratic Republic of the Congo said, “The time for implementing resolution 2773 is long overdue,” reiterating that “the M23, along with its backers, must now comply with the authority of this Council by immediately, fully and unconditionally withdrawing from the Congolese territory, ceasing all obstruction of humanitarian operations and the execution of MONUSCO's mandate, and halting all attacks on civilians, displaced persons, camps, hospitals and schools.”
Wagner also said, “Ground level monitoring, especially of ceasefire and compliance with Council resolutions, lies at the heart of United Nations peacekeeping.”
She highlighted, “MONUSCO, In that context, remains the most appropriate and capable extension of the Council's presence in the field. It remains to this day the only entity with the mandate, presence and operational capacity to fully carry out that role.”
The Congolese official reiterated her country’s “full confidence in the United Nations and its representations in the DRC and the region.”
She said, “We firmly condemned the repeated baseless and undignified attempts to delegitimize the UN, its missions and their leadership. Attacks systematically spearheaded by Rwanda.”
For his part, Rwandan Ambassador Robert Kayinamura said, “The DRC must confront its internal contradictions, externalizing or scapegoating Rwanda for its own problems will not solve the problem. Blame games have become their business. But this is just a painkiller. They must own up this issue.”
