Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
December 9, 2024
AS DELIVERED
Let me begin by thanking SRSG Keita. I want to thank you for your briefing today, but more importantly, for your strong and effective leadership of MONUSCO. Thank you, also, to Ms. Mubalama for your impactful statement, and for really, strongly amplifying the voices of women and children and victims of this horrible conflict. I'd also like to welcome the DRC foreign minister back to the Council for her briefing. I welcome the participation of Rwanda's and Angola's PRs today.
Colleagues, the United States looks forward to working with the Council on the renewal of MONUSCO's mandate.
As armed groups continue to destabilize eastern DRC, it is critical that Congolese authorities leverage all tools, including MONUSCO, to protect their people and their country's territorial integrity.
And so, we appreciate the DRC government's continued support of MONUSCO, and its perspective, both on the mission's renewal, and on a gradual and flexible approach to MONUSCO's drawdown.
Right now, MONUSCO remains well-positioned to do what peacekeeping missions do best: create space for peace processes and protect civilians in the meantime.
Over the next year, the mission will continue to play an important role: supporting the Luanda Process, including the now-operational Reinforced Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism, and diplomatic talks between Rwanda and the DRC, both enabled by Angola's strong leadership.
We urge all parties to honor the ceasefire and direct their aligned armed groups to do the same.
On that note, we were alarmed by M23's recent violations of the ceasefire under the pretext of "defensive actions" violations supported by RDF troops. These actions, and the RDF's endorsement of them, must end.
Rwanda and the DRC agreed on what is required - the DRC must take action against the FDLR and cease its support to that group. Rwanda must withdraw its more than 4,000 troops from DRC territory and cease its support for M23.
In addition, MONUSCO must be allowed to implement its mandate.
We call on Rwanda to immediately remove its surface-to-air missile systems from North Kivu and cease GPS signal interference, which have effectively grounded MONUSCO air operations, not to mention, endangered the lives of UN and humanitarian personnel, as well as countless civilians.
What's more, MONUSCO personnel must be able to operate without threats from M23, which limit the mission's movement, troop rotations, and resupply.
Similarly, we call on Ugandan bilateral forces to help ensure MONUSCO's Force Intervention Brigade to ensure that they can move freely and conduct offensive, unilateral operations against a shared enemy: ISIS-DRC, also known as the Allied Democratic Forces.
MONUSCO can, and should, leverage the FIB's unique mandate to neutralize ISIS-DRC forces; for that to happen, we need FIB troop-contributing countries to deploy soldiers ready and willing to carry out these mandated tasks.
Colleagues, while MONUSCO continues its essential operations, including life-saving efforts to protect civilians in Ituri, the mission must also continue on the path toward a sustainable and responsible withdrawal.
We commend MONUSCO and the DRC government for their work to revise withdrawal planning, so that it better reflects conditions on the ground, especially with regard to risks to civilians.
This Council must continue to review updated planning and stay informed through regular reporting. And the public, too, should be aware of these updates. We encourage DRC authorities to clearly communicate changes to the tempo and approach of the withdrawal.
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Confusion and ambiguity breed mis- and dis-information about MONUSCO's status; sowing the seeds of popular unrest, and even violence targeting peacekeepers.
Finally, we welcome MONUSCO's training of SAMIDRC leadership on human rights and other essential areas, as authorized under UN Security Council Resolution 2746.
We urge MONUSCO to prioritize training SAMIDRC on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We encourage SAMIDRC to take necessary action to ensure its troops conduct themselves in line with the UN's zero tolerance policy. And for our part, the United States supports retaining current levels of support to SAMIDRC while the operationalization of 2746 continues.
In closing, the progress made toward peace through the Luanda Process, supported by the continued deployment of MONUSCO, presents an opportunity to end this crisis once and for all and the widespread suffering it has caused.
Let us work with purpose to meet this moment. Thank you.
