Council speakers support Annan call to extend MONUC mandate

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recommendation to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) by a year was intended to demonstrate the Security Council’s commitment to the peacekeeping operation and to a resolution of the conflict, the Council was told on Wednesday. Presenting the Secretary-General’s eighth report on MONUC, Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, said the proposed extension of MONUC was also designed to facilitate the recruitment of high-quality civilian staff whose function would be to gather as much information as possible on the situation in the DRC. At the same time, through its public information operations, MONUC would explain to the Congolese parties and people what it and the broader international community were doing in the country. The human rights, humanitarian and child protection personnel would also have a great deal to do in terms of helping to improve the quality of life of the Congolese people, Guehenno said. The plight of children in the DRC was highlighted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, who briefed the Council on his recent trip to the DRC. Otunnu said that the massive use of child soldiers in the DRC had become “a plague”. He proposed a complete stop to the army recruitment and participation of children under 18, and the organisation of a major public awareness campaign to sensitise the military, civil society and local communities. DRC Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu told the Council there had been delays to troop withdrawals because of the “continuing refusal of one party to the Lusaka process” to act in compliance with disengagement plans. He noted that if the relevant provisions of Council resolution 1341 were not heeded, the Council had the duty to respond vigorously. Speakers expressed support for extending the mandate of MONUC, as proposed by Annan. They noted however that the improvements seen in the DRC were far from irreversible and that all efforts should be made by the parties to fully comply with the Lusaka Agreements.