UN envoy reports first Congo ceasefire-verification missions

The public session is listed as the Council’s 10,232nd meeting, scheduled for 10.15am New York time on 29 September. UN Web TV describes its subject as the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while UN Press also names MONUSCO in the meeting heading. [1] [3]

The closed consultations are scheduled to follow the meeting’s adjournment. Their agenda lists MONUSCO and “Other matters”. [2]

Update

The UN Security Council heard a briefing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday. James Swan, head of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, urged Congolese actors to stay engaged in diplomacy and turn their commitments into tangible progress. [4]

Swan reported that the first two joint ceasefire-verification missions went to Minembwe in South Kivu in August and Masisi in North Kivu in September. MONUSCO provided logistical, medical, aviation and communications support. The missions’ reports were sent to the ceasefire-monitoring mechanism established through the Doha process. [5]

Fighting has continued in North Kivu between M23 and its allies, which Swan described as supported by Rwanda, and Congolese forces and their allies. Rwanda’s representative accused Congolese forces of continued collaboration with the FDLR armed group and called for its neutralisation. The Congolese representative asked for new deployments and rotations of Rwandan contingents in UN peacekeeping missions to be suspended until Rwandan forces withdraw from Congo. [4]