Topic: Situation in Congo
Country: Palestine
Delegate Name: Anna Paneral
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Palestine position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Palestine genuinely sympathizes with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the past century, the Congolese have been plagued by corruption and exploitation, all the while fighting for independence. Palestine supports the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement of 1999, which attempted to end fighting in the Congo, released prisoner of war, and deployed an international peacekeeping force issued by the United Nations. Additionally, Palestine strongly identifies with the Congolese struggle for independence, as we, the Palestinian people, continue our ongoing fight for a united and independent Palestinian state.
Through a recent democratic election, the Congolese elected Joseph Kabila as their president. Although the election was widely boycotted and experienced many problems, Palestine recognizes the election as a step in the right direction towards stability and independence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Palestine encourages the United Nations to support the Kabila administration, in continuing to promote peace and initiate successful power transitions. However, the United Nations must respect this new administration as the authority of the Congo. The United Nations must allow them to devise their own plans of action in regards to the future of the country.
Despite these recent elections, the Congo remains very unstable and divided. The western Congo includes the capital as well as the majority of the military, and is therefore much more stable. The eastern Congo contains more of the rebel factions. These rebel factions have limited the effectiveness of the recent democratic elections.
Due to this increasing instability, Palestine believes that the United Nations must continue to extend aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo until the new administration is secure enough to stand on its own.
