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STORY: UN / GREAT LAKES REGION
TRT: 03:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 APRIL 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters
15 APRIL 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, United Nations:
“While the region has seen considerable intensification in diplomatic initiatives, "the humanitarian and security situations have worsened to a worrisome level."
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, United Nations:
“The continued erosion of trust in part explains the divide between political commitments and the reality on the ground. This disconnect remains today our main collective challenge.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, United Nations:
“The risk of a slide into a regional confrontation remains tangible. This Council cannot afford to see the repetition of a cycle of violence it has been examining for far too long: the full implementation of resolutions 2773 and 2808 is urgent.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, United Nations:
“I therefore call on the DRC, Rwanda, and all the actors concerned, in particular the AFC/M23, to resume a frank dialogue, to immediately reduce tensions, and to ensure the effective and timely implementation of all their commitments.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN-Women:
“Peace in the DRC will only be secured when women are treated not as collateral victims and their bodies as spoils of war, but as empowered agents of stability, accountability, and peace. Without safety, women cannot lead, and without their leadership, peace and recovery efforts fail. The same applies across the broader region.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN-Women:
“I ask that you protect the peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, and its critical mandate in the DRC. And recall the hundreds of trials against perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence. Recall the women activists and human rights defenders who have enjoyed MONUSCO’s protection.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Kayinamura, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Rwanda:
“Rwanda’s security concern and an ongoing existential threat remains the continued presence and tolerance of the FDLR in the DRC, before and after the signing of the Framework. This group poses a direct threat to Rwanda and to regional stability. Its persistence contradicts commitments undertaken under the Framework. There can be no credible path to peace without its effective and irreversible neutralization.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (French) Zénon Mukongo Ngay, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“DRC’s position has not changed: Rwandan troops must immediately withdraw from the DRC, without conditions, as required by resolution 2773, which this Council adopted unanimously. The other negative activities of Rwanda in the Great Lakes region, carried out through its numerous proxies, must also cease; otherwise, lasting peace will not emerge in this region.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
UN top officials warned that despite mediation efforts in Doha and Washington, regional tensions between the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi remain acute.
The Security Council meet today (15 Apr) over the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wider Great Lakes region.
Special Envoy Huang Xia and UN Women’s Sima Bahous updated ambassadors on the recent escalation of violence.
Huang Xia said that since last October, while the region has seen considerable intensification in diplomatic initiatives, "the humanitarian and security situations have worsened to a worrisome level,"
The continued erosion of trust in part explains the divide between political commitments and the reality on the ground.
He stressed, "This disconnect remains today our main collective challenge.”
He warned, “The risk of a slide into a regional confrontation remains tangible. This Council cannot afford to see the repetition of a cycle of violence it has been examining for far too long: the full implementation of resolutions 2773 (2025) and 2808 (2025) is urgent.”
He concluded, “I therefore call on the DRC, Rwanda, and all the actors concerned, in particular the AFC/M23, to resume a frank dialogue, to immediately reduce tensions, and to ensure the effective and timely implementation of all their commitments.”
Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of UN-Women said that peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will only be secured when women are treated not as “spoils of war” but as empowered agents of stability, accountability and peace.
She also asked the Council to protect the peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, and “its critical mandate in the DRC. And recall the hundreds of trials against perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence. Recall the women activists and human rights defenders who have enjoyed MONUSCO’s protection.”
Rwandan Ambassador, Robert Kayinamura said that his country’s security concern and an “ongoing existential threat remains the continued presence and tolerance of the FDLR in the DRC, before and after the signing of the Framework. This group poses a direct threat to Rwanda and to regional stability. Its persistence contradicts commitments undertaken under the Framework. There can be no credible path to peace without its effective and irreversible neutralization.”
Congolese Ambassador, Zénon Mukongo Ngay said, “DRC’s position has not changed: Rwandan troops must immediately withdraw from the DRC, without conditions, as required by resolution 2773, which this Council adopted unanimously. The other negative activities of Rwanda in the Great Lakes region, carried out through its numerous proxies, must also cease; otherwise, lasting peace will not emerge in this region.”
