silencing the guns

DRC: Can the UN and East African missions cooperate?

By Edward Nyembo

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Posted on April 25, 2023 08:20

© Members of the Ugandan army, part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF), in Bunagana, Rutshuru territory of the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi)
Members of the Ugandan army, part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF), in Bunagana, Rutshuru territory of the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi)

The full deployment of the East Africa Community Regional Force (EARCF) in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has brought the number of troops in the region to more than 22,000. They face the common challenge of trying to pacify a region that hasn’t seen peace in decades, but will they cooperate?

The UN’s Stabilisation Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) has almost 15,000 troops, while the EACRF has deployed about 8,000 soldiers. When the UN renewed MONUSCO in December, it stipulated that the mission’s mandate includes protection of civilians, disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and supporting DRC’s security sector reform.

The EACRF has the same mandate, but unlike MONUSCO, the East African Community is working on a political dialogue between President Felix Tshisekedi’s government and various rebel groups in the east to reach a permanent cessation of hostilities.

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