Peacekeeping in DRC Congo, Essay Example

MONUSCO is the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) meant to facilitate peacekeeping (Barrera, 2015). Its headquarters are based in Kinshasa, DRC. MONUSCO aims to apply all necessary means to effect its mandate relating to civilian protection, to prevent threats and physical violence to humanitarian personnel and defenders of human rights, and to help the DRC Government in its efforts to stabilize peace and consolidation(Barrera, 2015). In 2019 DRC faced major challenges in countering attacks from the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) that had arisen in the Eastern Province.

The UN had to intervene in the mission since the attacks were spreading rapidly to other areas. The Mission started in October 2019 following ADF’s operations in North Kivu province in Beni territory (MONUSCO, 2020). As a result, the attacks in Kivu were stabilized, although 793 people had already been killed. The UN, however, faced some challenges in the course of this mission which included political Issues. For example, the UN soldiers were accused of arresting and detaining innocent civilians and killing some in an attempt to stop the ADF(MONUSCO, 2020). Additionally, providing humanitarian assistance is sometimes a great challenge to the UN peacemaking team due to insufficient financial and logistics support from the UN body and its partners. This makes it hard for the UN to provide relief support, assist the displaced and refugees, and offer essential social amenities to the victims.

Recommendations to Curb UN Peace Making Challenges

• The mandate of peacekeeping should be clear and ensure no innocent people are injured or arrested during the mission.
• The UN peacemaking operations should seek support by creating regional and sub-regional partnership support mechanisms to gain enough financial and logistics support to deal with after-war disasters.
• While implementing set mandates in peacemaking operations, the UN should respect the international laws and customs of the countries they are trying to help achieve peace. This will prevent political unrest.

References

Barrera, A. (2015). The Congo trap: MONUSCO islands of stability in the sea of instability. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 4(1). http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.gn.

MONUSCO. (2020, July 7). United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DR Congo. United Nations.https://monusco.unmissions.org/en/drc-attacks-adf-armed-group-may-amount-crimes-against-humanity-and-war-crimes-0.