Press Conference by Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative

and Humanitarian Coordinator for Democratic Republic of the Congo

 

While progress in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been slow, the country was moving in the right direction and needed sustained efforts from its leadership, as well as the continuing support of the international community, said Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country.

Speaking this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference, Mr. Mountain, who was scheduled to leave his assignment in the country and with the United Nations at the end of the week, said he was pleased that the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), and the United Nations system in general, had contributed significantly to progress.  The country had held national and provincial elections, and was heading towards local elections.  There were programmes in place with international donors in different parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as a sovereign elected Government, to try and stabilize the country, which would allow MONUC to leave.

“There needs to be hope that the country can continue to progress.  It is not automatic, it is not irreversible, but it is progress,” he said.

While 1,500 Congolese died every day -– half of them children under age five -– and 70 per cent of the population were below the poverty line, 19 million Congolese had been assisted last year, he stressed.  In addition, humanitarian assistance had grown to about $600 million annually, and approaches for the protection of civilians had also been developed, which had saved thousands of lives.

Looking back over his five years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he drew attention to the size of the country, which was as large as Western Europe and had nine neighbours.  Just eight years ago, it had been Africa’s world war, with nine foreign armies in it, he said.

Asked to comment about allegations regarding the United Nations working with army units of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) that were abusing and, in some cases, killing civilians, Mr. Mountain said that if such exactions against civilians were occurring, they were “absolutely unacceptable”.  Extraordinary progress had been made in innovatively utilizing the military to carry about the Security Council mandate to protect civilians, which was the “number one priority”.  MONUC had 17,000 troops in a country of 2.4 million square kilometres, whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had well over 40,000 troops in Kosovo, whose size was 10,000 square kilometres.  Unfortunately, there was no way to completely stop such actions, he said.

Concerning a report about the killing of civilians by FARDC and the suspension of some operations by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, he said that the Mission sought to track, as best it could, the responsibilities of each unit, and then clearly follow up with authorities.  Such atrocities should be followed, and those responsible needed to be prosecuted, he said.

Asked about a possible reconfiguration and scaling back of MONUC, he said it was up to the Security Council to make such a decision.  Presence was extremely important for protecting civilians and, coming from a humanitarian background, he fully applauded that.  For example, in North Kivu, there were about 40 small presences of MONUC troops, half of which were at the specific request of the humanitarians.  There, a small group of Blue Helmets could dissuade either a renegade FARDC or militia, and discourage them from attacking civilians.  Through that mechanism, thousands of lives had been saved.

In response to a question about what the Congolese Government needed to do to take control of the entire country so that MONUC could envisage leaving, he noted that the United Nations had been there before MONUC, and would be there after the Mission.  A major step ahead of the Mission’s departure must be the reform of the army and security sector.  While there was much onus on a sovereign Government to design a coherent plan, the international community also played an important role.

A correspondent noted that 45,000 people died in the country each month, and asked what humanitarian steps could be taken to decrease that number.  Mr. Mountain said that the number of deaths that occurred over six months was the equivalent of an “Asian tsunami”, but the overwhelming majority did not die of violence, but of preventable diseases.  It was a matter of getting out and reaching those people, therefore, and of giving them access to medical facilities and combating some of the diseases that were rife.  Coordination was about impact and results, and “not about holding hands and having a good time in the evening”.

In response to a question about his hardest experience with the Mission, he pointed to his involvement in the first national elections in the country in more than 40 years.  He recalled the challenges of registering the population, running the referendum with the independent electoral commission, and then providing support for the voting process in more than 50,000 places across the country.

Responding to a question about the possibility of local elections being held in 2010, he said that the political commitment to the local elections had been re-emphasized by some of the country’s top authorities, but, unfortunately, some of that action was still awaited.  He was concerned as he left his responsibilities that the holding of the presidential election in 2011 would be jeopardized if progress was not made soon in that regard.

Asked if local staff was treated differently than international staff, he said that there were very large numbers of local staff who worked for MONUC and United Nations agencies, and they played a very vital role.  Local staff members were regarded as worthy of protection as international staff members.

As for how MONUC responded to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, Mr. Mountain said that a problem certainly existed, and that the Mission had adopted a zero-tolerance policy, as had other missions.  While he did not have precise figures on how many cases had been dealt with last year, there had been “a handful”.  One case, of course, was one too many, he added.

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For information media • not an official record