Security Council Resolution 2612 (2021) [on Extension of the Mandate of the Un Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) Until 20 Dec. 2022]

S/RES/2612 (2021)No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 104The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2019–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is S/RES/2808 (2025)

2025S/RES/2808 (2025)Security Council resolution 2808 (2025) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 20 Dec. 2026]LatestCompare with previous version
2024S/RES/2765 (2024)Security Council resolution 2765 (2024) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 20 Dec. 2025]Compare with previous version
2023S/RES/2717 (2023)Security Council resolution 2717 (2023) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 20 Dec. 2024]Compare with previous version
2022S/RES/2666 (2022)Security Council resolution 2666 (2022) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 20 Dec. 2023]Compare with previous version
2021S/RES/2612 (2021)Security Council resolution 2612 (2021) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 20 Dec. 2022]Compare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Situation Human Rights in Armed Conflicts Internal Security Peacebuilding Peacekeeping Operations Protection of Civilians in Peacekeeping Operations

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

6 reports of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2022.

Reports

2022S/2022/892United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo report of the Secretary-General
2022S/2022/735Implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region report of the Secretary-General
2022S/2022/709United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo report of the Secretary-General
2022S/2022/503United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo report of the Secretary-General
2022S/2022/276Implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

89 operative paragraphs

Political situation

Welcomes the efforts of Government of the DRC to respond to the needs of the Congolese people above the pursuit of partisan interests and strongly urges all Congolese political stakeholders to spare no efforts in implementing the critical governance, security and economic reforms contained in the Government’s programme of action 2021–2023, reiterates the importance of delivering on President Tshisekedi and his government’s commitments to pursue national unity, strengthen the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the respect of freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the press and the right of peaceful assembly, fight against corruption, launch domestic development programmes to significantly reduce poverty, and further political inclusiveness and peacebuilding and encourages MONUSCO to continue to support, through its good offices, peaceful, transparent, inclusive and credible political processes;

Welcomes the efforts of President Tshisekedi and his government towards reconciliation and peace and stability in the DRC and to promote regional cooperation and integration, notes that political stability and security as well as increased State presence in areas of conflict are critical for sustainable peace in the DRC, calls upon the DRC authorities to work towards the stabilisation and strengthening of the capacity of State institutions particularly in areas of conflict, with the support of MONUSCO and the UNCT, in order to fulfil the rights and needs of all Congolese people, further calls upon all political stakeholders to work, with the support of MONUSCO’s good offices, toward peaceful, transparent, inclusive and credible processes for the presidential and legislative elections scheduled in 2023 as well as for future elections, in accordance with the Constitution and the Electoral law, and to ensure the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation of women at all stages;

Requests the Secretary-General and calls upon regional organisations to provide political support to the strengthening of State institutions in the DRC and the restoration of trust among the different parties, including through their good offices, in order to consolidate peace and security, tackle the root causes of conflict in priority areas, as well as foster a broad national consensus around key governance and security reforms, the fight against illegal exploitations of natural resources, and support to current reform and other electoral processes, in line with the government of DRC’s national priorities, and welcomes the active diplomacy of President Tshisekedi as Chairperson of the African Union and his continued efforts with States in the region to build good relations with neighbouring countries and advance peace, security and regional integration;

Human Rights

Welcomes the commitments and actions of President Tshisekedi towards ensuring that the Government of the DRC protects and respects human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to combat impunity in all areas, further welcomes the steps initiated by the Government of the DRC towards the establishment of a national transitional justice strategy to promote truth and reconciliation while ensuring accountability for past crimes, reparation for victims and safeguards against the reoccurrence of past human rights violations, calls upon the Government of the DRC to uphold these commitments, and further calls on the Government of the DRC to ensure that the state of siege in Ituri and North Kivu, as part of its further efforts to eliminate the threat of armed groups and to restore State authority, is assessed on a regular basis, responsive to progress in achieving its clearly defined objectives and implemented with full respect for international human rights law and international humanitarian law;

Remains however deeply concerned by high levels of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law in parts of the country, committed by all parties, as well as the persistently high level of violence and the intensification of intercommunal violence fuelled by hate speech, including through social media platforms, and recognises their deleterious effect on the stabilisation, community reconciliation, reconstruction and development efforts in the DRC, recalls in that regard that it is prepared to impose targeted sanctions under paragraph 7 (d) and (e) of its resolution 2293 (2016), regarding inter alia human rights violations or abuses or violations of international humanitarian law;

Urges the Government of the DRC to hold accountable those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law or violations and abuses of human rights, as applicable, including those involving targeted attacks against civilians, widespread sexual and gender-based violence, recruitment and use of children, the forced displacement of significant numbers of civilians, extrajudicial executions and arbitrary arrests, and in particular those that may amount to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and stresses both regional cooperation and the DRC’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court following the DRC’s referral of the situation in the DRC in 2004, as well as cooperation with the African Court of Human and People’s Rights;

Welcomes the cooperation of the Government of the DRC with the team of international experts on the situation in the Kasai regions mandated by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 45/34, recognises the improvements in the cooperation since President Tshisekedi’s election, requests the Government of the DRC to implement all the recommendations made by the team of international experts in its report, and to cooperate with the team of two international human rights experts, charged with monitoring, evaluating, providing support and reporting on the implementation by the DRC of those recommendations, further welcomes the Government of the DRC’s continued cooperation with the United Nations team deployed, as agreed, to assist the Congolese authorities investigations into the deaths of the two UN experts in March 2017, and calls on them to ensure all perpetrators are brought to justice and held accountable;

Welcomes the steps taken by President Tshisekedi and his government to hold security forces accountable for violations of human rights and fight impunity within their ranks, release political prisoners, and close irregular detention centres, as well as to investigate and prosecute violations of human rights by State agents, further welcomes investigations by the Congolese authorities on any disproportionate use of force by security forces on peaceful protesters and calls on the Congolese authorities to ensure that those responsible for these acts are brought to justice, calls upon the Government of the DRC to facilitate, in line with previous agreements, full and unhindered access for the Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO) to all detention centres, hospitals and morgues and all other premises required for documenting human rights violations, as applicable, stresses the need for the Government of the DRC to continue to ensure the increased professionalism of its security forces, including vetting, training and capacity building of security personnel to fully respect domestic and international human rights law, as well as international humanitarian law, and underlines the importance of observing the rule of law;

Strongly condemns sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations perpetrated by all parties in the DRC, welcomes efforts made by the Government of the DRC to combat and prevent sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, including progress made in the fight against impunity through the arrest, prosecution and conviction of perpetrators from the FARDC and the PNC and towards the establishment of a national reparation fund for victims and survivors, and urges the Government of the DRC to continue to strengthen its efforts to combat impunity for sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, including sexual violence committed by the FARDC and PNC at all levels, and to provide all necessary services and protection to survivors, victims and witnesses, and further calls upon the Government of the DRC to complete investigations into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by members of the FARDC in line with the its zero-tolerance policy and, as appropriate, to prosecute those responsible, further encourages the government to take all measures to continue to support the provision of medical, sexual and reproductive health, psychosocial, mental health, legal and socioeconomic services to survivors of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations to facilitate their reintegration into their communities and to provide all necessary services, including legal, and protection to survivors;

Encourages the Government of the DRC to implement in full its National Strategy and the Roadmap agreed during the national conference in Kinshasa from 11–13 October 2016 to evaluate the implementation of the Joint Communiqué between the Government of the DRC and the United Nations on the Fight Against Sexual Violence in Conflict adopted in Kinshasa on 30 March 2013 and its addendum signed in 2019, and to ensure adequate funding is allocated to the implementation of these commitments, encourages further progress by the FARDC in implementing the action plan against sexual violence and in implementing the recently signed plan of the PNC, and recalls the importance of cooperation with the SRSG for Sexual Violence in Conflict;

Welcomes the progress made by the Government of the DRC to consolidate the gains of the Action Plan to End and Prevent the Recruitment and Use of Children and expedite its implementation, including aspects of the plan related to sexual violence against children, and to take all necessary steps to end and prevent all violations and abuses against children, and to ensure that children are not detained for their alleged association with armed groups and are handed over to child protection actors, in line with the Ministry of Defence and the National Intelligence Agency Directives issued in 2013, and calls upon the Government of the DRC to continue its efforts, in particular by prosecuting perpetrators within security forces for child recruitment and use and by ensuring that perpetrators of all violations and abuses are held accountable, and recalls the importance of cooperating with the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict;

Armed Groups

Strongly condemns all armed groups operating in the DRC and their violations of international humanitarian law as well as other applicable international law, and abuses of human rights, reiterates its condemnation of the violence witnessed in the DRC including a renewed surge in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), especially those involving attacks on the civilian population, United Nations and associated personnel and humanitarian actors, as well as medical personnel and facilities, summary executions and maiming, sexual and gender-based violence and recruitment and use of children, abductions of children and humanitarian personnel, attacks on schools and civilians connected with schools, including children and teachers, and hospitals in violation of applicable international law by armed groups and militias, the use of civilians as human shields, the forced displacement of significant numbers of civilians, extrajudicial executions and arbitrary arrests, the indiscriminate use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which represents an increasing threat to civilians and civilian objects and further reiterates that those responsible must be held accountable;

Demands that all armed groups cease immediately all forms of violence and other destabilising activities, the illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources, and further demands that their members immediately and permanently disband, lay down their arms, reject violence, end and prevent violations perpetrated against children and release children from their ranks, recalls in this regard that recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the DRC may lead to sanctions under paragraph 7 (d) of resolution 2293 (2016);

Notes that the elimination of the threat posed by armed groups requires an integrated regional approach and strong political engagement by the governments of DRC, SADC and the ICGLR to further seize on the positive regional momentum, in close coordination with MONUSCO and the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, underscores that there can be no purely military solutions to these problems, welcomes the establishment of a Contact and Coordination Group to oversee the technical implementation of non-military measures for the neutralisation of foreign armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region, bearing in mind the need to address the root causes of conflict, including the illicit exploitation and trafficking of natural resources and put an end to recurring cycles of violence, as outlined in the PSC Framework, reaffirms that the PSC Framework remains an essential mechanism to achieve durable peace and stability in the DRC and the Region recalls the commitments undertaken by the region under the PSC Framework not to tolerate nor provide assistance or support of any kind to armed groups, urges the signatory States, with the support of the PSC Framework Guarantors, to strengthen their collaboration in addressing appropriately and holistically the threat of all remaining foreign armed groups in the DRC and the illicit flow of weapons in the region, fully supports the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes in fulfilling his mandate to address the remaining challenges in implementation of the PSC Framework and to promote peace and stability in the region, including through good offices, coordinated strategies and shared information with MONUSCO, UNOCA and other UN entities, and stresses the need for coordination and cooperation between the Government of the DRC and other national authorities, United Nations entities, civil society organisations and development actors to build and sustain peace, stabilise, improve the security situation and assist in restoration of State authority;

Calls on the signatory States of the PSC Framework to complete without precondition the repatriation of the remaining former M23 combatants, as well as other combatants seeking voluntary return to their country of origin, within the shortest time frame possible;

Condemns the continued illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources, particularly so-called “conflict minerals” like tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, diamonds, cobalt, and coltan, as well as cocoa, charcoal, timber, and wildlife, by armed groups and criminal networks supporting them, the negative impact of armed conflict on protected natural areas, which undermines lasting peace and development for the DRC, and encourages the Government of the DRC to strengthen efforts to safeguard those areas, calls on member States of ICGLR and regional economic communities to jointly fight illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources by improving and reinforcing the security around mining regions, seeking rapprochement between mining communities, local authorities and security actors to resolve conflicts and promote the rights of person belonging to communities around mining regions, and encourages them to promote the transparent and lawful management of natural resources, including the adoption of government revenue targets to finance development, sustainable regulatory and customs frameworks, and responsible mineral sourcing supply chain due diligence, and recalls in this regard its resolutions 2457 (2019) and 2389 (2017) as well at its presidential statement S/PRST/2021/19;

Notes that drivers behind different armed groups’ activities and militia violence are varied, internal and external, and that there is no purely military solution to these problems, underlines the need for tailored responses in addressing the threat posed by armed groups, calls on the Government of the DRC to take further action in this respect, combining military and non-military approaches in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and including through tailored Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants into civilian life and local peacebuilding initiatives which are sensitive to the needs and experiences of women and girls, in coordination and with the support of MONUSCO in accordance with its mandate;

Calls for increased and effective joint operations by the Congolese security forces and MONUSCO including its Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), that include joint planning and tactical cooperation, in accordance with MONUSCO’s mandate and in strict compliance with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP), to ensure all efforts possible are being made to prevent, deter and stop armed groups and stresses the need to carry out all operations, joint or unilateral, in strict compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable;

Welcomes the establishment of the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Recovery and Stabilisation Programme (PDDRC-S) and urges the Government of the DRC and its partners, including international financial institutions, to urgently provide adequate and timely support for swift and effective implementation of the DDR of eligible former combatants, under coordination of the PDDRC-S, through tailored, community-based and context specific DDR initiatives with sustainable economic alternatives and opportunities in order to effectively attract combatants willing to demobilise and transition into a peaceful civilian life, learning lessons from previous approaches, and ensuring that accountability for serious human rights violations and abuses and international crimes, transitional justice initiatives and the protection of children’s rights are an integral part of those processes;

Welcomes the preliminary commitments and actions taken by President Tshisekedi and his government to advance security sector reform (SSR), promote the consolidation of State authority, reconciliation, tolerance and democracy, encourages the Congolese authorities to continue the troop rotations announced by President Tshisekedi, and calls on the Government of the DRC to remain fully committed to protecting the civilian population through the swift establishment of professional, accountable and sustainable security forces that respect international humanitarian law and domestic and international human rights law, the deployment of an accountable Congolese civil administration, in particular the police, judiciary, prison and territorial administration, and the consolidation of rule of law and promotion and protection of human rights, further calls upon the Government of the DRC to uphold its national commitments to SSR, including by allocating the necessary financial resources, and taking into account women’s full, equal, effective and meaningful participation and safety, and notes with concern the limited progress in those fields essential for the DRC’s stabilisation to date;

Notes with concern that diversions of arms from national stockpiles continue to constitute a source of supply for armed groups in the DRC, calls for continued national efforts to address the threat posed by the illicit transfer, destabilising accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons, including inter alia through ensuring the safe and effective management, storage, monitoring and security of their stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, and the fight against arms trafficking and diversion, including through capacity building and combating impunity, with the continued support of MONUSCO, as appropriate and within existing resources, and calls on the Government of the DRC to expand its support to the National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons Control and Reduction of Armed Violence (CNC-ALPC);

MONUSCO’s mandate

Decides to extend until 20 December 2022 the mandate of MONUSCO in the DRC, including, on an exceptional basis and without creating a precedent or any prejudice to the agreed principles of peacekeeping, its Intervention Brigade;

Decides that MONUSCO’s authorised troop ceiling will comprise 13,500 military personnel, 660 military observers and staff officers, 591 police personnel, and 1,050 personnel of formed police units, and continues to agree to a temporary deployment of up to 360 personnel of formed police units provided they are deployed in replacement of military personnel, as proposed by the Secretary-General in his report S/2019/905, and invites the Secretariat to consider further reduction of MONUSCO’s level of military deployment and area of operations based on the positive evolution of the situation on the ground, in particular in the regions where the threat posed by armed groups is no longer significant, in line with the joint strategy on the progressive and phased drawdown of MONUSCO (S/2020/1041);

Decides that the strategic priorities of MONUSCO are to contribute to the following objectives:

Protection of civilians, as described in paragraph 29 (i) of this resolution;

Support to the stabilisation and strengthening of State institutions in the DRC and key governance and security reforms, as described in paragraph 29 (ii) of this resolution;

Stresses that MONUSCO’s mandate should be implemented based on a prioritization of tasks established in paragraphs 29 to 39 of this resolution and, in this regard, reaffirms that the protection of civilians must be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources;

Welcomes the UN Strategy for Peace Consolidation, Conflict Prevention and Conflict Resolution in the Great Lakes region as well as its Action Plan, encourages ownership and political will by the signatory states of the PSC Framework for their effective implementation, calls on the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region to continue his regional and international engagement to support the full implementation of the PSC Framework and urges MONUSCO to work with the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes to seek political solutions to stop the cross-border flows of armed combatants, arms and natural resources that threaten peace and stability in the DRC, by aligning strategies and conducting information-sharing and coordinating their respective reporting;

Authorises MONUSCO, in pursuit of its mandated tasks, to take all necessary measures to carry out its mandate and requests the Secretary-General to immediately inform the Security Council should MONUSCO fail to do so;

Requests MONUSCO to ensure that any support provided to operations conducted by national security forces, including in the form of rations and fuel, should be only for joint operations, jointly planned and executed, and subject to appropriate oversight and scrutiny, in strict compliance with the United Nations HRDDP, including by the United Nations Country Team, failing which that support should be suspended;

Decides that the mandate of MONUSCO shall include the following priority tasks, and that all MONUSCO’s tasks should be implemented in a manner consistent with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms:

Protection of civilians

Take all necessary measures to ensure effective, timely, dynamic and integrated protection of civilians under threat of physical violence within its provinces of current deployment, with a specific focus on Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, including the use of good offices, whilst retaining a capacity to intervene elsewhere in case of major deterioration of the situation, through a comprehensive approach and in consultation with local communities, including by preventing, deterring, and stopping all armed groups and local militias from inflicting violence on the populations, by disarming them, and by supporting and undertaking local mediation efforts and national level advocacy to prevent escalation of violence and to counter hate speech, paying particular attention to civilians gathered in displaced persons and refugee camps, peaceful demonstrators, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders, in line with the basic principles of peacekeeping, while ensuring the risk to civilians are mitigated before, during and after any military or police operation, including by tracking, preventing, minimising and addressing civilian harm resulting from the mission’s operations, including when in support of national security forces;

Maintain a proactive deployment and a mobile, flexible and robust posture, including by conducting active patrolling by foot and by vehicle, in particular in high risk areas;

Work with the Government of the DRC and humanitarian workers to identify threats to civilians and implement joint prevention and response plans and strengthen civil-military cooperation, to ensure the protection of civilians from abuses and violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and violations and abuses committed against children and persons with disabilities;

Enhance its community engagement with civilians, including by the troops and police, to raise awareness and understanding about its mandate and activities, to strengthen its early warning mechanism, and to increase its efforts to monitor and document violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights, and continue and strengthen local community engagement and empowerment, as well as strengthening protection of civilians through early warning and response, including prevention, as appropriate, to lay out a strategy with the government of the DRC containing concrete measures to build trust and understanding among the population regarding MONUSCO’s efforts in the DRC and to prevent disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining the mission’s credibility and hindering its performance, and by ensuring mobility of the mission;

in support of the authorities of the DRC, and on the basis of information collection and analysis, carry out targeted offensive operations in the DRC to neutralise armed groups, to ensure effective, timely, dynamic and integrated protection of civilians, and to contribute to the objective of reducing the threat posed by armed groups to state authority and civilian security in the DRC and to make space for stabilisation activities, either unilaterally or jointly with the Congolese security forces, through a reconfigured and effective FIB, as determined by the Force Commander, with a view to enabling it to execute its mandate, that includes combat units from additional TCCs functioning as quick reaction forces having undergone pre-deployment training and verification in accordance with UN standards and with appropriate capabilities and equipment, able to cope with asymmetric warfare, which falls under the authority, command and control of MONUSCO Force Commander and with the support of the whole of MONUSCO, in a robust, highly mobile and versatile manner and in strict compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, and with the United Nations HRDDP and in accordance with the standing operating procedures applicable to persons who are captured or who surrender, and underlines that the entire MONUSCO force, including the Intervention Brigade, must prioritise the implementation of its protection of civilians mandate, including through a mobile, flexible and robust posture;

Work with the authorities of the DRC, leveraging the capacities and expertise of the UN Police, MONUSCO and UNCT justice and corrections capacities including the UN Prosecution Support Cell, UNJHRO and other MONUSCO Justice components, and the technical assistance team deployed by OHCHR, to strengthen and support the DRC judicial system in order to investigate and prosecute all those allegedly responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law and violations or abuses of human rights in the country, including through cooperation with States of the region and the ICC, following the decision made by the Prosecutor of the ICC in June 2004 to open, following the request of the Government of the DRC, an investigation into alleged crimes committed in the context of armed conflict in the DRC since 2002;

Provide good offices, advice and support to the Government of the DRC to promote human rights, in particular civil and political rights, and to fight impunity, including through the implementation of the Government’s “zero tolerance policy” with respect to discipline and human rights and international humanitarian law violations, committed by elements of the security sector, and to engage and facilitate mediation efforts at local level to advance sustainable peace;

Strengthen the Mission’s early warning and response mechanisms, including by systematically recording and analysing its rate of response and ensure that risks of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations are included in the Mission’s data collection, threat analysis and early warning system;

Support to stabilisation and the strengthening of State institutions in the DRC, and key governance and security reforms, in order to establish functional, professional, and accountable state institutions, including security and judicial institutions

Stabilisation

Provide coordination between the Government of the DRC, international partners and United Nations agencies in a targeted, sequenced and coordinated approach to stabilisation informed by up to date conflict analysis, through the implementation of the International Security and Stabilisation Support Strategy (ISSSS) and adoption of a conflict-sensitive approach across the Mission;

Provide technical advice to the Government of the DRC in the consolidation of an effective national civilian structure that controls key mining activities and manages in an equitable and productive manner the extraction, value addition, transport, and trade of natural resources in eastern DRC, in coordination with the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region’s technical assistance efforts;

Root causes of conflict

Provide good offices and technical support, in coordination with regional and international partners, with a view to furthering reconciliation, democratisation and inclusion, addressing the root causes of conflict and promoting intercommunal and gender-responsive reconciliation and countering hate speech, including through political support and engagement with interlocutors across the political spectrum, including the Government, opposition parties, local authorities, women and civil society;

Provide good offices, advice and assistance to enable the Government of the DRC to prevent, mitigate, and resolve intercommunal conflicts through, inter alia, mediation and community engagement, by undertaking national and local dialogues on community security, local conflict resolution, promotion of justice and reconciliation initiatives, and to ensure actions against armed groups are supported by civilian and police components as part of consolidated planning which provides a comprehensive response to area-based stabilisation efforts;

Monitor, report immediately to the Security Council, and follow-up on human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law to report on restrictions on political space and violence, including in the context of the elections, and support the United Nations system in-country to ensure that any support provided by the United Nations shall be in strict compliance with the United Nations human rights due diligence policy and consistent with international humanitarian law and human rights law and refugee law as applicable;

Security Sector Reform (SSR)

Provide good offices and strategic and technical advice to the Government of the DRC and play a role in coordinating the support provided by international and bilateral partners and the United Nations system, in consultation with the Government of DRC, particularly in North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces to:

– accelerate national ownership of SSR by the Government of the DRC, including through supporting the development of a common national plan, as well as a clear and comprehensive SSR implementation roadmap including benchmarks and timelines;

– encourage inclusive SSR which delivers security and justice to all through independent, accountable and functioning justice and security institutions which take into account women’s full, equal and meaningful participation and safety, underlines in that regard that progress in the fight against impunity is critical for the security forces to no longer be perceived as a threat to civilians;

– promote and facilitate military, police, justice and prison sector reforms to enhance the justice and security sector’s accountability, fighting against impunity and operational effectiveness and effectiveness; in that regard, provide expertise, advice and training to the Congolese security forces to strengthen their capacity, in particular through human rights training and through continued implementation of the Integrated Operational Strategy for the Fight Against Insecurity, developed by MONUSCO police, in strict compliance with the United Nations HRDDP;

– continue to support, via the United Nations Mine Action Service, the Government of the DRC in enhancing the capacities of the Congolese security forces, including through advice, training and capacity development in weapons and ammunitions management, Counter-IED, Explosive Ordnance Disposal;

Disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration (DDR)

Provide good offices, advice and assistance to the Government of the DRC, particularly in North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces in close cooperation with the UNCT and international partners, for the implementation of the PDDRC-S in accordance with order No. 21/038 of 5 July 2021 and for the DDR of Congolese and foreign combatants not suspected of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or abuses of human rights, into a peaceful civilian life that can be complemented by a Community Violence Reduction (CVR) approach through community-based security and stabilisation measures and a flexible disarmament and demobilisation approach, coordinated under the framework of the ISSSS, while paying specific attention to the needs of women and children formerly associated with armed forces and groups;

Coordinate with civil society, donor partners and government officials, including local and provincial leaders, to support DDR efforts, especially regarding reintegration into civilian life;

Provide support to the disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration (DDRRR) process to return and reintegrate foreign combatants not suspected of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or abuses of human rights and their dependants to a peaceful civilian life in their country of origin, or a receptive third country while paying specific attention to the needs of women and children formerly associated with armed forces and groups;

Advise and support the DRC authorities in the disposal of weapons and ammunitions of disarmed Congolese and foreign combatants in compliance with resolution 2424 (2018) as well as applicable international arms control treaties, including the Nairobi Protocol of which the DRC is signatory party and the Kinshasa Convention;

Continue to collaborate with the Government of the DRC to consolidate the gains of the Action Plan to Prevent and End the Recruitment and Use of Children and expedite its implementation, including on the aspects related to Sexual Violence by the FARDC, and continue dialogue with all listed parties to obtain further commitments and work towards the development and implementation of action plans to prevent and end violations and abuses against children;

Protection of the United Nations

Ensure the protection of United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment and the security and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel;

Child protection

Requests MONUSCO, with support of the UNCT, to take fully into account child protection as a cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate and to assist the Government of the DRC in ensuring that the protection of children’s rights is taken into account, inter alia, in DDR processes and in SSR as well as during interventions leading to the separation of children from armed groups in order to end and prevent violations and abuses against children, and acknowledges the crucial role of United Nations Child Protection Advisers deployed as a standalone capacity in MONUSCO in that regard, requests MONUSCO to continue to ensure the effectiveness of the monitoring and reporting mechanisms on children and armed conflict;

Gender, Sexual Violence

Requests MONUSCO to take fully into account gender considerations as a crosscutting issue throughout its mandate and to assist the Government of the DRC and other relevant stakeholders in creating a legal, political and socio-economic environment conducive to ensuring the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation and full involvement and representation of women at all levels, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, protection of civilians, including by engaging women’s networks as partners in protection, support to DDR and SSR efforts, and support to stabilisation efforts through, inter alia, the provision of civilian and uniformed gender and women protection advisers and focal points at headquarters and field levels, participation of women civil society leaders and organization members with regards to conflict prevention and resolution, public institutions and decision-making, requests MONUSCO support the government in advancing women’s full, equal and meaningful political participation, in particular achieving the 30% constitutional quota and further requests enhanced reporting by MONUSCO to the Council on this issue;

Acknowledges the important role of United Nations Women Protection Advisers deployed in MONUSCO in supporting the Government of the DRC to implement its commitments on addressing sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations and calls on MONUSCO to ensure they continue to work closely with the Government of the DRC at both strategic and operational levels;

Reiterates the urgent and imperative need to hold accountable all perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law, requests MONUSCO to accelerate the coordinated implementation of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations;

Humanitarian Access

Recalls all its relevant resolutions on the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel, including resolutions 2439 (2018) and 2286 (2016), and expresses serious concern at increased attacks on humanitarian personnel and medical personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, as well as impediments to humanitarian access in eastern DRC, demands that all parties allow and facilitate, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and consistent with humanitarian principles, the full, safe, immediate and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel, equipment and supplies and the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in need, in particular to refugees and internally displaced persons, throughout the territory of the DRC, and recalls that individuals and entities may be designated by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) for planning, directing, sponsoring or participating in attacks against medical personnel or humanitarian personnel;

Calls on MONUSCO to strengthen its collaboration with humanitarian actors and streamline coordination mechanisms with humanitarian agencies to ensure information sharing and an effective response, in line with their respective mandates, to protection risks to the population;

Emphasises the importance of maintaining international support and engagement – financially, technically and in-kind – to respond rapidly to infectious disease outbreaks and requests all relevant parts of the United Nations System to effectively coordinate their activities, in accordance with their mandates and responsibilities, in response to Ebola, COVID-19 and other potential outbreaks and notes the positive role of MONUSCO in the 2018-2020 eastern DRC Ebola response and recognises that Ebola is one of many serious humanitarian and health challenges in the DRC that need sustainable solutions, including sustained strengthened healthcare systems to contain future epidemics;

Sanctions regime

Requests MONUSCO to monitor the implementation of the arms embargo as described in paragraph 1 of resolution 2293 (2016) in cooperation with the Group of Experts established by resolution 1533 (2004), and in particular observe and report on flows of military personnel, arms or related materiel across the eastern border of the DRC, including by using, as specified in the letter of the Council dated 22 January 2013 (S/2013/44), surveillance capabilities provided by unmanned aerial systems, seize, collect, record and dispose of arms or related materiel brought into the DRC in violation of the measures imposed by paragraph 1 of resolution 2293 (2016), and exchange relevant information with the Group of Experts;

Expresses its full support to the United Nations Group of Experts established by resolution 1533 (2004), calls for enhanced cooperation between all States, particularly those in the region, MONUSCO and the Group of Experts, requests timely information exchange between MONUSCO and the Group of Experts, encourages all parties and all States to ensure cooperation with the Group of Experts by individuals and entities within their jurisdiction or under their control and reiterates its demand that all parties and all States ensure the safety of its members and its support staff, and unhindered and immediate access, in particular to persons, documents and sites the Group of Experts deems relevant to the execution of its mandate;

Mission effectiveness

Recognizes that the effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates is the responsibility of all stakeholders and is contingent upon several critical factors, including well-defined, realistic, and achievable mandates, political will, leadership, performance and accountability at all levels, adequate resources, policy, planning, and operational guidelines, and training and equipment;

Stresses the importance to provide MONUSCO with the necessary capacities to fulfil its mandate in a complex security environment that includes asymmetric threats to its personnel, requests the Secretary-General, Member States, and the Government of DRC to take all appropriate measures to ensure the best level possible of safety and security of MONUSCO’s personnel, in line with resolution 2518 (2020), and principles to guide the COVID-19 vaccination of uniformed personnel in-theatre and prior to deployment in line with UN guidelines and best practices to improve safety of peacekeepers, recalling as well the Action Plan on improving safety and security related to the report on “Improving Security of United Nations Peacekeepers, notes with concern the grave risks violations of the Status of Forces Agreement can present to the safety and security of United Nations personnel serving in peacekeeping operations, and requests the Secretary-General to implement the provisions of resolution 2589 (2021) for establishing accountability for crimes against peacekeepers;

Requests the Secretary-General to implement the following activities in the planning and conduct of MONUSCO's operations within the limits of the mandate and area of operation and in line with existing United Nations guidelines and regulations:

– strengthening the implementation of a mission-wide early warning and response strategy, as part of a coordinated approach to information gathering, incident tracking and analysis, monitoring, verification, early warning and dissemination, and response mechanisms, including response mechanisms to threats and attacks against civilians that may involve violations and abuses of human rights or violations of international humanitarian law, as well as to prepare for further potential attacks on United Nations personnel and facilities, and ensure gender-sensitive conflict analysis is mainstreamed across all early warning and conflict prevention efforts;

– encouraging the use of confidence-building, facilitation, mediation, community engagement, and strategic communications to support the mission’s protection, information gathering, and situational awareness activities;

– prioritising enhanced mission mobility and active patrolling to better execute its mandate in areas of emerging protection risks and emerging threats, including in remote locations, and prioritise deployment of forces with appropriate air and land assets, to support the mission’s protection, information gathering, and situational awareness activities;

– improving MONUSCO’s intelligence and analysis capacities, including surveillance and monitoring capacities, within the limits of its mandate;

– providing training, knowledge and equipment to counter explosive devices, including enhanced support to troop- and police-contributing countries to deploy the environment specific mine-protected vehicles needed under the current Force requirements;

– implementing more effective casualty and medical evacuation procedures, including the Standard Operating Procedure on Decentralized Casualty Evacuation, as well as deploying enhanced medical evacuation capacities;

– taking active and effective measures to improve the planning and functioning of MONUSCO’s safety and security facilities and arrangements;

– securing long-term rotation schemes for critical capabilities as well as exploring innovative options to promote partnerships between equipment, troop- and police-contributing countries;

– ensuring that any support provided to non-United Nations security forces is provided in strict compliance with the HRDDP, including the monitoring and reporting on how support is used and on the implementation of mitigating measures;

– prioritising mandated protection activities in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources within the mission, according to resolution 1894 (2009);

– strengthening its sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response activities in line with resolution 2467 (2019), including by assisting the parties with activities consistent with resolution 2467 (2019), and by ensuring that risks of sexual and gender-based violence are included in the Mission’s data collection and threat analysis and early warning systems by engaging in an ethical manner with survivors and victims of sexual and gender-based violence, and women’s organizations;

– implementing resolution 1325 (2000) and all resolutions addressing women, peace, and security, including by seeking to increase the number of women in MONUSCO in line with resolution 2538 (2020), as well as to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of operations, including by ensuring safe, enabling and gender-sensitive working environments for women in peacekeeping operations, taking fully into account gender considerations as a crosscutting issue throughout its mandate, and reaffirming the importance of uniformed and civilian gender advisors, gender focal points in all mission components, gender expertise and capacity strengthening in executing the mission mandate in a gender-responsive manner;

– taking fully into account child protection as a cross-cutting issue;

– implementing youth, peace and security under resolution 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020);

– implementing peacekeeping performance requirements under resolutions 2378 (2017) and 2436 (2018);

– implementing the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on serious misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual harassment, and all actions under resolution 2272 (2016), and to report to the Security Council if such cases of misconduct occur;

Reiterates the need to further improve the effectiveness of the Force Intervention Brigade to ensure effective, timely, dynamic and integrated protection of civilians and the neutralisation of armed groups by, inter alia, completing implementation of past assessments to reinvigorate the Intervention Brigade’s operational effectiveness, attaching additional staff officers, as deemed appropriate by MONUSCO Force Headquarters, and undertaking the action set out in paragraph 29 (i) (e) of this resolution;

Requests the Secretary-General to take all possible steps, including through the full use of existing authorities and at his discretion, to maximise MONUSCO’s operational capacity and ability to discharge its mandate, with a specific focus on priority areas, including through enhancing MONUSCO’s personnel, mobility assets and capabilities for gathering timely, reliable and actionable information on threats to civilians, especially the linkages between armed groups and local communities, while continuing to strengthen the performance of the Mission;

Requests MONUSCO to consider the environmental impacts of its operations when fulfilling its mandated tasks and, in this context, to manage them as appropriate and in accordance with applicable and relevant General Assembly resolutions and United Nations rules and regulations;

Requests troop- and police-contributing countries to implement relevant provisions of resolution 2538 (2020) and all other relevant resolutions on reducing barriers to and increasing women’s participation at all levels and in all positions in peacekeeping, including by ensuring safe, enabling and gender-sensitive working environments for women in peacekeeping operations;

Urges troop- and police-contributing countries to continue taking appropriate action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, including vetting of all personnel, predeployment and in-mission awareness training, to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel, including through timely investigations of all allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by troop- and police-contributing countries to hold perpetrators accountable, to repatriate units when there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic sexual exploitation and abuse by those units, and to report to the United Nations fully and promptly on actions undertaken;

Exit strategy

Welcomes the Transition plan on the basis of the Joint Strategy on the Progressive and Phased Drawdown of MONUSCO endorsed by resolution 2556 (2020), requests MONUSCO to withdraw from Tanganyika by mid-2022 and to consolidate its footprint in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, the three provinces where active conflict persists, while pursuing its work on good offices and institutional strengthening at the national level as recommended by the Joint Strategy, including the continuation of an early warning and rapid response system, encourages the Joint Working Group between the United Nations and the Government of the DRC to engage in regular discussions on the implementation of the transition plan and progress towards achieving the benchmarks and indicators in liaison with civil society and further encourages the United Nations, in collaboration with national and international stakeholders to operationalise the humanitarian-development-peace triple nexus approach in Tanganyika and the Kasai region;

Stresses the importance of a strategic and coherent approach by the United Nations, the Government of the DRC, international financial institutions and other multilateral and bilateral partners to the mobilisation and use of resources to ensure that the conditions are in place for MONUSCO’s responsible and sustainable withdrawal and to sustain peacebuilding gains and encourages the international community and donors to support the scaling up of the activities and programming of the UNCT and other United Nations entities operating in the DRC;

Calls upon MONUSCO, the UNCT and other United Nations entities operating in the DRC to strengthen integration and cooperation to undertake the priority collaborative actions identified in the Transition plan and to enable scaled up programming by the UNCT in preparation for MONUSCO’s withdrawal, including by developing a coherent resource mobilisation strategy;

Calls upon MONUSCO to work closely with the UNCT to identify ways to address gaps in capabilities to prepare for the exit of MONUSCO, underscores the need to progressively transfer MONUSCO’s tasks to the Government of the DRC, the UNCT and other relevant stakeholders, where appropriate and consistent with mandates and resources, in order to enable the responsible and sustainable exit of MONUSCO and encourages the Secretary-General where appropriate to discontinue tasks related to support to stabilisation and the strengthening of State institutions in the DRC, and key governance and security reforms, which can be responsibly and sustainably assumed by other stakeholders and to streamline MONUSCO accordingly;

Recognises the role played by Radio Okapi in providing information to Congolese population, including local communities while raising awareness and understanding about MONUSCO’s mandate and activities and requests MONUSCO and relevant partners to explore the available options to sustain Radio Okapi programming in the context of MONUSCO’s transition;

Stresses that MONUSCO’s activities should be conducted in such a manner as to facilitate progress towards sustainable and inclusive peace and development and address the root causes of conflict, to reduce the threat posed by domestic and foreign armed groups to a level that can be managed by the DRC’s security forces and enables MONUSCO’s gradual, responsible and sustainable exit, based upon progress towards satisfying the benchmarks and indicators set out in the Transition plan and taking into consideration the situation on the ground, with a particular focus on reduction of the threat to civilians;

Recognising the progress made by the Government of the DRC and its efforts to fulfil its commitments, encourages the government to swiftly address the following key issues in order to make the support and technical assistance of MONUSCO and other partners more efficient, in particular with regard to priorities identified by the government of the DRC and MONUSCO in the Transition Plan:

Initiate disciplinary and judicial procedures, in accordance with the DRC legislation, against DRC officials who have been found to have engaged in corruption, ordered or participated in violence against civilians or engaged in commercial relations with armed groups;

Initiate appropriate disciplinary and judicial procedures against individuals responsible for human rights violations and abuses, including crimes against children and sexual and gender-based violence, and work towards eliminating human rights violations committed by Congolese security forces;

Devise a security sector reform plan with MONUSCO and other international and regional partners on ways to strengthen the capacity of national security forces, so that they are able to manage the security situation in areas where armed groups are present and active with a view towards transition;

Conduct information-sharing with security forces in the region to interdict cross-border flows of arms, combatants, and natural resources that threaten peace and stability in the DRC;

Reports by the Secretary-General

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months including:

information on the situation in the DRC, including progress towards the strengthening of State institutions, key governance and security reforms;

information on the implementation of MONUSCO’s mandate, including its protection of civilian tasks, as per the requirements set out in paragraph 46 of resolution 2463 (2019), as well as on progress made towards consolidating the footprint of MONUSCO in the three provinces where active conflict persists and the progressive transfer of tasks to the Government of the DRC, the UNCT and other relevant stakeholders, cooperation among regional security forces, MONUSCO’s performance including on FIB operations, and information on police and force generation and the implementation of the measures taken to improve MONUSCO’s performance, including to ensure FIB effectiveness as outlined in paragraphs 40 to 47;

iii

progress towards the realisation of the 18 benchmarks and indicators set by the Government and the United Nations in the Transition plan;

updates on efforts to adequately resource and on progress on implementation of the priority collaborative actions with specialised agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations identified in the Transition plan;

updates on the progressive transfer of MONUSCO’s tasks to the Government of the DRC, the UNCT and other relevant stakeholders, including where appropriate on the discontinuation of tasks as requested in paragraph 51;

and further requests the Secretary-General to include gender analysis in all reports to the Security Council;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council every six months, in coordination with the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region and the SRSG for the DRC on the implementation of the commitments under the PSC Framework and its linkages with the broader security situation in the Great Lakes Region;

Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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