The UN defines its exit strategy for the peacekeeping mission in DR Congo

The UN Security Council decided Friday to extend until December the huge peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to give the necessary time for the development of UN peacekeeping operations. A withdrawal plan.

The Council unanimously adopted a resolution drafted in French asking the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to present, by October at the latest, a strategic badessment on a "gradual, comprehensive and comprehensive exit strategy".

The decision to overthrow the mission known as MONUSCO followed the presidential elections that ended Joseph Kabila's regime and improved prospects for stability in the vast, mineral-rich country.

MONUSCO's 16,000 member mission – the largest and most expensive UN with an annual budget of more than $ 1 billion – has been in the DRC for 20 years, with a particular focus on it is torn by conflict.

The council extended MONUSCO's mandate until December 20 and kept the quota ceiling unchanged, although António Guterres had proposed cuts in a report to the council earlier this month.

Kabila had repeatedly called on the peacekeepers to leave the country and relations with the UN had deteriorated at the end of his term, but his successor, Felix Tshisekedi, offered to cooperate. with the UN.

Tshisekedi also called for a withdrawal plan, but said the peacekeeping force must be "reduced, better armed and prepared" to fight rebel groups and militias ravaging many parts of the country.

Negotiations on an exit strategy come as the United States, the largest financial contributor to United Nations peacekeeping, seeks to reduce its share of the UN budget for peace operations.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton said in December that the United States would seek to end the long peacekeeping missions of the UN that do not bring lasting peace.

In December, the United States announced that it would cap its contribution to the peacekeeping budget at 25 per cent, up from the current 28.5 per cent.

In its resolution, the Council welcomed the peaceful holding of elections in the DRC, while declaring itself "deeply concerned by the persistence of high levels of violence" and human rights violations. man.

He also expressed his "deep concern" at the recent Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 600 people, and the growing number of Congolese displaced by the conflict, including 2.1 million in 2018 alone.