Chinese envoy calls for helping DRC with security capacity-building

UNITED NATIONS -- A Chinese envoy on Monday urged the international community to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with its security capacity-building.

"The current focus should be put on helping the DRC to enhance its security capacity-building, supporting the effort of the DRC government to maintain peace and stability," Wu Haitao, the charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, told the Security Council meeting on the situation in the DRC.

The international community should "fully respect the sovereignty and independence and territorial integrity of the DRC," Wu said, adding that it should also "fully respect the ownership and leadership of the DRC government in handling its own affairs, strengthen communication with the DRC government, and help the DRC to resolve its challenges in humanitarian, security, development and other fields."

The Chinese envoy also called on the world to continue supporting regional and sub-regional organizations in playing their roles to facilitate and strengthen interactions between the parties within the DRC government to advance the implementation of the peace security and cooperation framework for the DRC and the Great Lakes Region, so as to jointly contribute to the realization of peace and stability in the DRC and a wider region.

"International partners should help with the DRC's effort to make sure that armed groups in the DRC to abandon the military solution and instead resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation," he added.

Wu also said that efforts must be made to "continue providing necessary humanitarian assistance and economic support to the DRC government."

"International partners should focus on increasing input in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other areas, help the DRC to increase employment, improve people's life, and restore economic and social development," he said.

"We hope bodies such as UN Development Programme and UN Environment Programme can play a bigger role," he added.

"The international community should continue actively responding to the DRC's humanitarian assistance appeal, support the activities of the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross and help contain the Ebola outbreak.

Noting that MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, is "indispensable" to peace and stability in the country, Wu said that China supports the extension of its mandate.

"We hope MONUSCO can continue its activities according to its mandate to help the DRC realize peace stability and development," he said.

"In the meantime, we hope the (UN) Secretariat, the DRC government and the troop-contributing countries can engage in communication, and in view of the development, conduct timely review and put forward proposals of adjustment to MONUSCO mandate, so as to ensure a step-by-step and orderly handover of security responsibilities from MONUSCO to the DRC security forces," said the envoy.

China is ready to work with the wider international community to continue contributing to the DRC's efforts to achieve early peace, stability and development, Wu noted.

Leila Zerrougui, the UN secretary-general's special representative for the DRC, briefed the Security Council on the situation in the DRC.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Feb 15 submitted to the President of the Security Council an update on the situation in the DRC.

The update, which covers developments in the DRC from Jan 1 to 31, was submitted pursuant to Resolution 2409 (2018), in which the Security Council requested the secretary-general to provide a written update every 30 days on political and technical progress towards the holding of elections in the DRC and on obstacles to the implementation of the political agreement of Dec 31, 2016.