What's In Blue

Posted Thu 19 Apr 2012

DRC “Arria Formula” Meeting

Tomorrow (20 April), Council members will attend an “Arria Formula” meeting on security sector reform (SSR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The meeting is organised by France together with representatives of NGOs and will be a closed session with only Council members and participating NGOs attending.

The speakers at the meeting will be Emmanuel Kabengele of the Congolese Network for Security Sector Reform and Justice (RRSSJ), Mvemba Dizolele from the Eastern Congo Initiative and Marta Martinelli from the Open Society Foundations. Among the areas likely to be covered are the consequences of insecurity in the DRC, recommendations on international coordination and shared responsibility for SSR and the achievements and challenges for SSR in the DRC.

The meeting comes as MONUSCO’s mandate is due to be considered for renewal by the Council by the end of June (S/RES/1991). Council members are also expecting the interim report of the DRC group of experts on sanctions to be submitted to the DRC Sanctions Committee (1533 Committee) by 18 May 2012.

Several countries on the Council are concerned with the lack of significant progress on SSR – encompassing military reform, but also police, justice and prison reform – in the DRC. On 18 May 2011, under the French presidency, the Council held an open debate focusing on stabilisation efforts in the DRC, including SSR (S/PV.6539).

Speakers at the meeting are likely to cover a recent report issued on 16 April by 13 international and Congolese organisations and networks, titled “Taking a Stand on Security Sector Reform”. The report argues that the lack of political will to reform the security sector in the DRC risks not only billions of dollars of international aid but also the very stability of the country. Among other things, it recommends that the Council extend the DRC sanctions regime to those individuals impeding reforms and empower MONUSCO to provide support for military reform and increase its SSR resources.

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