Topic: Situation in Congo
Country: New Zealand
Delegate Name: Jack Duiven
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All New Zealand position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though first brought to the world’s attention years ago, has yet to be resolved. In a region of Africa where 45,000 Congolese die each month, a stable society has yet to be found. Political turmoil, civil conflict, and an overall feeling of unrest dominate the area, an area still not fully recovered from its own civil war. The country of New Zealand believes the United Nations must continue and improve its support to the Congo to ensure a better civilization for all parties involved.
To gain an adequate understanding of today’s conditions in the Congo, one must go back years. In 2006, the Democratic Republic of the Congo held its first multiparty election in the country in 46 years. Though the outcome of the election is largely disputed, and though disputes over the election’s outcome have caused the death and displacement of a number of Congolese people, Joseph Kabila was finally proclaimed the winner. Fraud and corruption became a significant problem in the election, and still remains one to be solved today. Additionally, considerable conflict exists between the Congolese government under the direction of President Joseph Kabila and rebel forces under the command of Laurent Nkunda. Also, to make matters more complicated, Rwandan forces are involved in the conflict. Rwanda’s interaction in the situation goes back all the way to 1994, when warfare broke out between two ethnic groups existing in the Congo and Rwanda – the Hutus and the Tutsis. In 1994, the Hutus attempted to carry out a genocide on minority Tutsis in Rwanda. Upon realizing that the Tutsis might win the conflict and stop the genocidal Hutus, many Hutus fled across the border into the Congo. This in itself presents a conflict, because France was supposed to disarm the refugees as they crossed into the Congo and they failed to do so.
New Zealand believes that the time to bring peace to the Congo has finally come. Though this has been said in the past, action must be taken by the countries of the world and by the United Nations to prevent further bloodshed and violence. For instance, in January 2008, the parties involved in the conflict signed the Goma peace accords, which called for ceasefire, disarmament, and the return of refugees. Although this at first seemed like a sound step for those parties involved, neither side has obeyed the rules entirely. Recently, fighting broke out near the Congolese city of Goma, resulting in the upheaval of 250,000 civilians. A better effort than that must be made.
It has been found that a majority of the deaths in the Congo are due to easily preventable and treatable diseases. Thus, the United Nations ought to improve its level of support to the Congo using simple human resources. New Zealand believes in any proposal or resolution that calls for increased aid for the Congo, whether it is through these resources or through peacekeeping troops. New Zealand supports such actions such as pursued interest in sustainable development for the Congolese people or better regulation of the country’s democratic elections. The Mission of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) must also continue its level of aid to the Congo to ensure a more stable government, a safer public, and a better society for the people of the Congo.
