Anger and disappointment trailed in Goma following the United Nations Security Council’s vote to unanimously extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo known as MONUSCO.
After the anti-UN protests, Congo’s President called a meeting to reassess MONUSCO’s presence and a review of the transition plan for MONUSCO.
The resolution extending the UN peacekeeping force until December 2023 strongly condemns all domestic and foreign armed groups operating in the country and demands they immediately cease all violence and destabilising actions.
The UN also voted on Tuesday to lift a notification requirement on some arms purchases which a parliament member called “unjustified and humiliating.”
“Resolution 2666 decides that the authorized troop ceiling of the mission, known by its French acronym as MONUSCO, will comprise 13,500 military personnel, 660 military observers and staff officers, 591 individual police officers, and 1,410 personnel of formed police units.
“The resolution decides that the strategic priorities of MONUSCO are to protect civilians and help with the stabilization and strengthening of state institutions and key governance and security reforms.
The separate resolutions were approved amid worsening security in Congo’s mineral-rich east, a region rife with rebel groups and an upsurge in violence and civilian killings.
