Council Meeting on Strategy for Dealing with the LRA
The Council is expected to have a private meeting tomorrow (21 July) to discuss the LRA. A joint DPA-DPKO technical assessment mission on the LRA returned from the region in late May and the meeting is to begin initial discussions on the findings. Earlier there had been some suggestion that the meeting would be in consultations but it seems that a private meeting was preferred as it would allow for participation from the AU and non-Council member states. (The AU and Uganda have accepted the invitation to participate in the meeting. It also seems that South Sudan, CAR, and DRC have also been invited.)
It seems that at the meeting the Secretariat will give an oral briefing. A written report may be produced by late August.
The Secretary-General’s Policy Committee met on 28th June and endorsed the findings of the joint mission. On Thursday, 7th July, Council members at the expert level were briefed by DPKO, DPA, and OCHA at the German Mission on the conclusions from the joint technical assessment mission.
A possible outcome from this meeting is a press statement supportive of an AU- LRA initiative for facilitating regional action against the LRA and encouraging the efforts being taken by the CAR, DRC, South Sudan and Uganda. (The AU has authorised setting up a regional task-force on this issue.) Such a press statement may also suggest a possible coordination role for the recently established UN Office in Central Africa (UNOCA) between missions in the region. It seems that there may also be interest in requesting the Secretary-General to produce a report later in the year on the threat posed by the LRA and opportunities for regional and UN efforts to address that threat. This could lead to the Council addressing this issue again before the end of the year.
