Democratic Republic of the Congo: Briefing and Consultations
On Monday morning (30 September), the Security Council will convene for an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the work of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita will brief on developments in the country based on the Secretary-General’s latest report, which was published on 20 September and covers the period between 20 June and 19 September. The chair of the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Michael Imran Kanu (Sierra Leone), is expected to brief on the committee’s work. The Council will also hear a briefing from a civil society representative. The DRC and Rwanda are expected to participate in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
In describing the political situation in the country, Keita may refer to the election of former Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde as president of the Senate in August and to upcoming national and provincial legislative elections set to take place in October in some territories in North Kivu—one of the provinces in eastern DRC where elections could not be held last year because of high levels of insecurity.
Ongoing regional efforts to address the security situation in eastern DRC and ease regional tensions are likely to be a major focus of Monday’s meeting. Keita may welcome the signing on 30 July of a ceasefire agreement between the DRC and Rwanda in Luanda with Angola’s facilitation. The agreement calls for the ceasefire, which took effect on 4 August, to be monitored by the Ad Hoc Verification Mechanism established as part of the Luanda process, a regional initiative under the leadership of Angolan President João Lourenço aimed at de-escalating tensions between the DRC and Rwanda. The two countries also agreed on the operationalisation of a plan to neutralise the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), an ethnic Hutu armed group active in eastern DRC that was implicated in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda.
Lourenço met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali on 11 August and with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa on the following day. During these discussions, Lourenço proposed a peace agreement to both sides to resolve the long-standing conflict in eastern DRC. He mentioned this in his 24 September speech at the opening of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, indicating that the parties are discussing the terms of the agreement at ministerial level, with the aim of reaching an understanding that will lead to a summit at which the peace agreement will be signed. The foreign ministers of Angola, the DRC, and Rwanda met twice to discuss Lourenço’s proposal, first on 20 and 21 August and then again on 14 September. Between these two meetings, senior intelligence officials from the three countries convened on 29 and 30 August in Rubavu, Rwanda, to discuss the details of the proposal. In his 25 September speech at the UN General Assembly, Tshisekedi described the ongoing talks in Luanda as an encouraging development. He emphasised, however, that this should not overshadow the need for the international community to impose targeted sanctions against Rwanda for its destabilising actions and to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory.
The security situation in eastern DRC remains fragile, with the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) rebel group further expanding its presence in North Kivu despite ongoing diplomatic efforts. The Secretary-General’s report notes that the ceasefire between the Rwandan and Congolese military forces has largely held, while clashes between the M23 and other armed groups persisted. In a 1 August statement, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)—a political-military coalition of armed groups announced in December 2023, of which the M23 is a key member—said that it is “not automatically bound by the conclusions of meetings to which it has not attended”, an apparent reference to the outcome of the 30 July Luanda meeting. The AFC further argued that the conflict could only be resolved through direct political dialogue with the Congolese government. However, the Congolese government has repeatedly expressed its unwillingness to engage in dialogue with the M23, opting instead to engage directly with Rwanda, which is implicated in providing support to the group, according to reports of the Group of Experts assisting the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee.
On 25 July, the US imposed sanctions on the AFC and also designated individuals and entities associated with the coalition, including the AFC’s political leader, Corneille Nangaa, and the president of the M23, Bertrand Bisimwa. This was followed by the EU’s decision on 26 July to impose “restrictive measures” on nine individuals and one entity—including the AFC and its leader Nangaa, as well as individuals associated with the M23, the FDLR, the Forces démocratiques alliées (ADF), an armed group affiliated with the armed militias known as Wazalendo (patriots), and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). Furthermore, according to the Secretary-General’s report, Nangaa, together with 25 other AFC and M23 leaders, were convicted on 8 August by a court in Kinshasa of several charges, including terrorism, war crimes, and high treason. Most of the defendants were tried in absentia and sentenced to death.
Other armed groups operating in eastern DRC, such as the ADF and the Coopérative pour le développement du Congo (CODECO), also continue to target civilians in North Kivu and Ituri. During the period covered by the Secretary-General’s report, 663 civilians were reportedly killed in these provinces, including 104 women and 50 children, and 229 were civilians injured, including 26 women and 41 children. The Secretary-General’s report says that the security situation remains precarious in light of MONUSCO’s withdrawal from the South Kivu province in June, adding that local armed groups from North Kivu continue to move to South Kivu.
At Monday’s meeting, Keita may reference the 15-20 September visit to the DRC by Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. During the visit, he held a series of discussions with senior Congolese government officials and other important interlocutors in order to assess the security situation in the eastern DRC; to exchange views on ongoing diplomatic efforts, particularly the Luanda process; and to discuss MONUSCO’s support to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which has been deployed in the eastern DRC since December 2023. On 6 August, the Security Council adopted resolution 2746, authorising MONUSCO to provide logistical and operational support to SAMIDRC. Lacroix visited North Kivu and Ituri, the two remaining provinces in eastern DRC where MONUSCO continues to operate. In this regard, Keita is likely to update Council members on MONUSCO’s disengagement process, that was agreed with the Congolese government and endorsed by the Security Council through resolution 2717 of 19 December 2023, which most recently extended MONUSCO’s mandate. The Secretary-General’s report describes the transition planning processes in North Kivu and Ituri through the provincial transition teams and the particular attention given to strengthening national institutions and capacities to protect civilians.
The humanitarian situation in eastern DRC is another expected focus of Monday’s meeting. The DRC remains one of the largest displacement crises in the world, with close to seven million people forced to move due to conflict and natural disasters. The humanitarian situation has recently been compounded by the outbreak of the mpox virus (previously known as monkeypox). According to a 14 August statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that the mpox upsurge in the DRC and a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The Secretary-General’s report notes that, as at 7 September, more than 21,221 suspect cases of mpox, 5,062 confirmed cases, and over 644 deaths had been recorded in the country, with an “alarming increase” reported in infections among children.
