Kinshasa, (Asian independent) The withdrawal of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) from the eastern province of Tanganyika is good news as it reflects an improvement in the security situation, said Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Congo.
According to a statement issued on Sunday, Lemarquis has been on a working visit to Tanganyika province since June 17, in preparation for the future departure of the MONUSCO from Tanganyika.
“It is important to specify that the withdrawal of MONUSCO, which corresponds to an improvement in the security situation in the province, does not mean a withdrawal of the UN. It is important that people understand it,” said Lemarquis, promising that other UN elements “will stay in the province of Tanganyika”.
According to the press release, a residual capacity of MONUSCO personnel, including experts, will also remain for a few months so that the landing of MONUSCO’s departure is smooth, Xinhua news agency reported.
For the Deputy Special Representative of MONUSCO, the departure of MONUSCO, due to the relative stability at the provincial level, is an opportunity to accelerate the development agenda in Tanganyika and thus create a space in which other partners’ development could intervene, including those of the private sector.
As in Kasai-Central, a province in the centre of the country, from where MONUSCO withdrew in June 2021, the UN favours the “nexus” approach in Tanganyika, which involves working in ways that reduce humanitarian needs, including addressing the issues that create those humanitarian needs, the statement said.
“The nexus approach is to see how together humanitarian partners, with their development partners, will analyse the problem and work to both meet emergency support needs and solve problems”, said Lemarquis.
