Peacebuilding Program Officer Mark Malan and Peacebuilding Associate Erin Weir will conduct a mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from November 2nd to November 26th, 2007. During the trip, the team will assess the current security conditions in North and South Kivu, where fighting continues between the Congolese national army, the FARDC, and the troops of a renegade commander, Laurent Nkunda, who claims to be fighting to protect Congolese Tutsis in the east. The RI team will be examining the impact of the escalating conflict on civilians, and on the capacity of existing systems to address these new needs.

The RI team will focus especially on the role of the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, in protecting civilians and training the FARDC to be an effective and professional force. In addition to assessing the situation in the Kivus, the team will also spend time in Kinshasa meeting with Government officials and the staff of UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations.

The mission takes place in the context of the need for the UN Security Council to review and renew the mandate and determine the force size of MONUC in December. The insecurity in eastern Congo suggests that MONUC’s task is far from completed. The RI team will return from the mission with specific recommendations for the MONUC mandate going forward, and the size of the force needed to fulfill it.