DR Congo: amid alleged army atrocities, UN cites civilian protection as top priority

319 views · Published 12 November 2009 · 5:51 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: United Nations · 2009 · News & Politics

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United Nations, New York, 12 November 2009 - Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The top priority for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the protection of civilians from abuse, be it from the Government forces that it is mandated to support or armed rebel groups, a senior official said today. 
"Alas, we are not behind every banana bush", UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ross Mountain told a news briefing in New York.

He noted that 10 years ago the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had over 40,000 troops to stabilize Kosovo, a territory of 10,000 square kilometres, while the UN mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, is only now moving up from 17,000 uniformed personnel to 20,000 to help bring security to a country of 2.4 million square kilometres.

News story:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32937&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo

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