Mbandaka – 7 March 2014 - MONUSCO explained its mandate and role in the implementation of the Addis-Ababa Framework for Peace, Security and Cooperation for the DRC and the Region,” in a conference organized by the Congolese New Civil Society organization (NSCC in French acronym) around the theme: “DRC’s Stabilization and MONUSCO’s involvement in the implementation of the Framework.”

During the news conference whose objective was, inter alia, to sensitize the provincial key actors on the decentralization and the ongoing electoral process as well as to update the public opinion on the status of the implementation by MONUSCO of the Addis-Ababa Framework, the Civil Affairs section of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in DR Congo gave a briefing on the Mission’s activities on the ground which are all aimed at backing the implementation of the following commitments made by the DR Congo within PSC Framework: the Intervention Brigade playing a key role in the neutralization of the armed groups; accelerating security sector reform, in particular the Army and the Police; the consolidation of State authority, in particular the East of the DRC, including by preventing armed groups from destabilizing the neighboring countries; accelerating the decentralization process; promoting economic development; promoting the structural reform of State institutions, including the reform of the finances, and promoting national reconciliation, tolerance and democratization.

MONUSCO also organizes capacity-building for local authorities and civil society organizations, activities on conflict management, stabilization as well as peace consolidation with a view to promoting reconciliation and economic development in line with its mandate. The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DR Congo and the Region was signed on 24 February 2013 in Addis-Ababa by eleven States: DRC, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa and with the United Nations, the African Union, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the Southern African Development Community as Guarantors of the Framework. The objective of this Framework is to address the root causes of the armed conflict that destabilize the East of the DRC and put an end to recurrent cycle of violence.

Jean-Tobie Okala