Attachments
In 2013, a climate of insecurity persists in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite the presence of the United Nations’ (UN) largest peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO.[i] DRC’s recent past saw armed groups mushrooming and successively challenging the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). In vast, contested areas, territory repeatedly changes hands and the region remains marked by recurring changes in alliances between armed groups as well as their continued re-configuration and (re-)emergence. The defunct March 23 movement (M23) and the Raia Mutomboki (Kiswahili for ‘angered citizens’) are but two examples.[ii] While the former was a well-organized rebel army, the latter is a loose franchise movement consisting of nationalist grassroots militia.
Against this backdrop, M23’s taking of Goma in November 2012 was a watershed moment, launching regional and international discussions on potential responses that took into account the roles of both the FARDC and of the neighboring states of Rwanda and Uganda in eastern DRC. At the same time, the humanitarian consequences have been harrowing. Of over 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) documented countrywide by the UN in September 2013,[iii] more than 1.6 million people are currently internally displaced in the Kivus. From April to December 2012 alone, 500,000 people were estimated to have been newly displaced by events surrounding the fall of Goma (where lots of IDP camps are situated across the urban periphery), as humanitarian actors struggle to meet the resulting needs.[iv]
While conflicts in DRC have a rather cyclical nature, violence and displacement in the provinces of North and South Kivu have led to chronic emergencies fostered by elite contest, economic interests, land conflict, ethnic divisions, and impunity. Providing humanitarian assistance in such contexts is a challenge—with scarce infrastructures and staff present along with poor road and air transport. Violence affects both the population and those assisting, with the UN reporting over 200 security incidents that affected humanitarians in the Kivus in 2012.[v] For instance, health facilities in the region likewise regularly face violence directed at staff and patients.[vi]
Drawing on field experience of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in eastern DRC and beyond, as well as on wider analyses on UN peacekeeping in eastern DRC[vii], this article examines the fraught issue of MONUSCO’s mandate, as well as the relationship between UN peacekeeping and humanitarian action in eastern DRC today. Based on this analysis, the authors look ahead to the possible consequences of the Intervention Brigade for humanitarian action in this fragile region. The piece will conclude with reflections on similar developments in peacekeeping in other key current contexts—including Mali and Somalia—to draw attention to risks facing humanitarian action where it operates alongside international peacekeeping.