United Nations Security Council Resolution 2556 –The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of CongoLetter from the President of the Council on the voting outcome (S/2020/1253) and voting details (S/2020/1265)

Resolution 2556 (2020)

The Security Council,

Recalling its previous resolutions and the statements of its President concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially its resolutions 2528 (2020), 2502 (2019), 2478 (2019), 2463 (2019), 2424 (2018), 2409 (2018), 2389 (2017), and previous resolutions regarding the mandate of MONUSCO and the sanctions regime established by resolutions 1493 (2003) and 1807 (2008),

Reaffirming the basic principles of peacekeeping, including consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate, and recognising that the mandate of each peace-keeping mission is specific to the need and situation of the country concerned,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the DRC as well as all States in the region and emphasising the need to respect fully the principles of non-interference, good-neighbourliness and regional cooperation,

Recalling that the Government of the DRC bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including protection from crimes against humanity and war crimes,

Noting that the DRC continues to suffer from recurring and evolving cycles of conflict and persistent violence by foreign and domestic armed groups, which exacerbate a deeply concerning security, human rights and humanitarian crisis, as well as inter-communal and militia violence in areas of the DRC,

Recognising the efforts of the Government and the people of the DRC aiming at the achievement of peace and national development, further recognising the efforts of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in addressing the threat posed by armed groups in the DRC, encouraging the continuation of efforts by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, his special envoy for the Great Lakes, the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and signatory States of the Peace and Security (PSC) Framework for the DRC and the region to restore peace and security in the DRC, and encouraging the Government of the DRC to ensure continuous close cooperation with these and other international parties,

Recognising the importance of confidence-building, facilitation, mediation, good offices, and community engagement to achieve peace and security in the DRC, and the need for MONUSCO, as appropriate and when possible, to continue to explore how it can use these techniques to enhance its ability to support the Mission’s protection, its information gathering and situational awareness, and to implement its mandated tasks, including to protect civilians,

Reaffirming the important role of women and youth in the prevention,management and resolution of conflicts, and in peacebuilding, stressing the importance of their full, effective and meaningful participation in all efforts for the maintenance of and promotion of peace and security in the DRC,

Expressing great concern over the humanitarian situation that has left an estimated 25.6 million Congolese in need of humanitarian assistance, further expressing deep concern regarding the growing number of internally displaced persons in the DRC with 5.2 million estimated to have been displaced to date, and the 529,000 refugees in the DRC, as well as the more than 934,000 refugees from the DRC in Africa as a result of ongoing hostilities, further calling upon the DRC and all States in the region to work towards a peaceful environment conducive to the realization of durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons, including their eventual voluntary return and reintegration in the DRC in conditions of safety and dignity, with the support of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), stressing that any such solution should be in line with relevant obligations under international refugee law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and commending United Nations humanitarian agencies, partners, and donors for their efforts to provide urgent and coordinated support to the population, calling on member States and other international partners to scale up funding and contribute to the United Nations humanitarian appeals for the DRC and the region to help ensure that United Nations humanitarian agencies and other international organizations are fully funded and able to urgently respond to the humanitarian needs in the country, including by addressing the protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons, all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and other vulnerable communities,

Recalling the UN guiding principles of humanitarian emergency assistance,

Recalling resolution 2532 (2020) demanding a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on the Council’s agenda, as well as calling upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, timely, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence,

Commending MONUSCO for the preventive measures taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and recalling its request to the Secretary-General to instruct peace-keeping operations to provide support, within their mandates and capacities, to host country authorities in their efforts to contain the pandemic, in particular to facilitate humanitarian access, including to internally displaced persons and refugee scamps and allow for medical evacuations, as well as its request to the Secretary-General and Member States to take all appropriate steps to protect the safety, security and health of all UN personnel in UN peace operations, while maintaining the continuity of operations, and to take further steps towards the provision of training for peacekeeping personnel on issues related to preventing the spread of COVID-19,

Recalling all its relevant resolutions on women, peace and security, on youth, peace and security, on children and armed conflict, and on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, welcoming efforts of the Government of the DRC in this regard, further welcoming efforts by the Government of the DRC to implement resolution1325 (2000), also recalling the conclusions on children and armed conflict in the DRC adopted on 10 December 2020 by the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict pertaining to the parties in armed conflicts of the DRC, expressing grave concern over the high number of violations against children, in particular sexual and gender-based violence being committed by security forces, further calling on all actors to contribute to the rehabilitation and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed groups and forces,

Welcoming the efforts of MONUSCO and international partners in delivering training in human rights, international humanitarian law, gender mainstreaming, child protection and protection from sexual and gender-based violence to Congolese security institutions and underlining their importance,

Recognising the adverse effects of climate change, ecological changes, natural disasters, and lack of energy access, among other factors, on the stability of the DRC, including through increasingly frequent and extreme weather phenomena, flooding, forest fires, erratic precipitation and food insecurity, welcoming the leadership of the DRC in the development of national strategies to address these issues and in the preservation of the Congo basin forest,

Commending the commitment of the Troops and Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs) in implementing the Mission’s mandate in a challenging environment, recalling its expectations on delivering on mandated reforms and enhancements to MONUSCO, highlighting the importance of effective command and control, respect for the chain of command, adequate equipment and information in order for timely and effective responses to attacks on civilians,

Reiterating its call on all parties to cooperate fully with MONUSCO and to remain committed to the full and objective implementation of the Mission’s mandate, reiterating its condemnation of any and all attacks against peacekeepers, and emphasising that those responsible for such attacks must be held accountable, and encouraging all parties to work together to enhance the safety and security of MONUSCO’s personnel, including in line with resolution 2518 (2020) and to ensure that all peacekeepers in the field are willing, capable and equipped to effectively and safely implement their mandate,

Welcoming the commitment of the Congolese authorities to closely collaborate with MONUSCO and their support to deliver the Joint strategy on the progressive and phased drawdown of MONUSCO,

Determining that the situation in the DRC continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

Adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2020