Photo: Chickenonline/Pixabay
UN Security Council in DRC
The peacekeeping force is one of the largest UN missions in the world, with more than 16 000 uniformed personnel.
Photo: Chickenonline/Pixabay
On Thursday the United Nations (UN) Security Council team arrived in DR Congo on a three-day-visit.
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UN PEACEMAKING MISSION – MONUSCO
The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC which is known as MONUSCO said the goal of the council’s visit was to assess the security and humanitarian situation in North Kivu.
“We are here to support the action of MONUSCO, to remind that it is part of the solution to find peace,” said Gabon’s UN ambassador Michel Xavier Biang on his arrival in Kinshasa.
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LARGEST PEACEMAKING MISSION IN THE WORLD
The peacekeeping force is one of the largest and most expensive UN missions in the world. It has over 16 000 uniformed personnel.
“The DRC government accuses Rwanda of backing M23. UN experts, the United States and several other western states, have also concluded that Rwanda supports the group.”
ALSO READ: UN pauses flights in DRC after helicopter attack
On Monday 27 February, the United Nations announced that it was suspending humanitarian flights across the Democratic Republic of Congo after one of its helicopters came under attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MILITANTS FIRED ON A UN HELICOPTER
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), unidentified militants fired on a helicopter “10 minutes” from the trade hub of Goma in North Kivu province on Friday. The 10 passengers and three crew members on board were not harmed.
However, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) decided to temporarily suspend humanitarian flights in North Kivu. WFP manages the UN Humanitarian Air Service, which provides passenger and cargo transport during crises.
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OCHA COORDINATOR WEIGHS IN
“We are deeply concerned about the safety of air operations and the humanitarian actors who depend on these flights to reach the most vulnerable groups of the population,” said OCHA humanitarian coordinator Bruno Lemarquis.
