Quy noted the ongoing tensions among political and civilsociety actors in the DR Congo and underlined the critical importance ofintegrating women’s voice in the political process.
Expressing concern over the continued deterioration of thesecurity situation in the east of the country - especially in Ituri, North Kivuand South Kivu - he strongly condemned attacks against civilians, peacekeepersand humanitarian operations.
Also citing the impacts of socio-economic hardship, displacement and COVID‑19, he stressed the utmost importanceof addressing the root causes of instability. In that regard, he welcomed the Government’s establishment andimplementation of the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Recovery andStabilisation Programme, which maps out a comprehensive strategy to combathostile armed groups, and commended efforts to formulate a transition plan forthe progressive and phased drawdown of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO).
UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRCongo Bintou Keita, who also heads MONUSCO, called on the UN Security Councilto continue providing its “full backing” to the United Nations peacekeepingmission in that country.
According to UN statistics, 19.6 million out of over 90million people in the DR Congo are in need of humanitarian assistance. Withover 5 million internally displaced people, the country has the highest numberof internally displaced people on the African continent. More than 26 millionCongolese also suffer from food insecurity, about 29 percent of the population./.