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The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the largest UN peacekeeping operations, will be reduced due to budget pressure, the commission said Tuesday.
The mission, known as MONUSCO, will close representations or offices in Matadi, Mbandaka, Bandundu and Mbuji-Mayi in eastern DRC; in Lubumbashi and Kamina in the south-east; and to Dungu, to the northeast.
These will be closed by June 30, although the military component of the mission remains unchanged, said MONUSCO chief Leila Zerrougui.
MONUSCO proposed to reduce spending by $ 100 million (€ 89 million) for the fiscal year from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The current budget is $ 1.194 billion.
Zerrougui said MONUSCO would maintain its presence in the conflict-torn zone, where armed groups control areas of territory, and in the Kasai region in the center, where fierce fighting between government forces and the militia Kamwina Nsapu.
"The armed groups (…) are in Ituri, Kivu, Tanganyika, the two Kasai (provinces)," she said Monday at a press conference.
MONUSCO – the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC – succeeded a UN peacekeeping operation called MONUC, created in 1999, the vast country grappling with a bloody regional war.
Information folder on United Nations peacekeeping operations. By Gal ROMA (AFP)
According to the MONUSCO website, in September 2017, the mission had over 16,000 military personnel, as well as 425 military observers, 187 staff officers and nearly 1,400 police officers.
On the civilian side, it has more than 4,100 civilian employees, including 910 international staff, 505 United Nations volunteers and nearly 2,800 locals.
Zerrougui said the United Nations radio station Okapi – one of the most important news sources in the DRC – would continue to broadcast despite the closures.
The UN Security Council last month approved a nine-month extension of MONUSCO's mandate.
Last year, in the middle of the election campaign for the presidential elections in the DRC, incumbent head of state Joseph Kabila asked MONUSCO to leave the country in 2020.
His successor, Felix Tshisekedi, has ruled in favor of a gradual start.
The armed forces of the Congolese DRC face many problems, ranging from poor training and motivation to corruption and obsolete equipment.
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