Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/2014/341)

The Report of the Security Council mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia (including the African Union) (S/2014/341) was submitted to the Security Council on 13 May 2014. This report reflects all the events that took place during the Security Council mission that was sent to the Great Lakes region of Africa and the African Union from 3 to 9 October 2013. The report is divided into the following sections: Introduction; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Rwanda; Uganda; Ethiopia and Annex. The report references all the meetings that took place in the different countries and the key issues that were discussed by the Security Council members and the stakeholders.

The women, peace and security agenda was discussed during the visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo however it only referenced protection concerns in regards to sexual violence (P. 14, 32 and 34), the efforts that were underway to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable (P. 15) and the fight against impunity to address the scourge of sexual violence (P.16). The report failed to provide a gender perspective with a particular emphasis on women’s participation whenever the following issues were addressed: the talks in Kampala between the DRC government and the M23; the reform of the security sector; decentralization and future elections processes (local elections by the end of 2014 and national elections in 2016); the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the entire region including specific national commitments agreed by the parties; the management of natural resources; the restoration of State authority in the DRC; the training of police personnel in the DRC; the massive displacement of populations and the plight of refugees; the delivery of humanitarian assistance and aid; DDR; national reconciliation and amnesty procedures; and terrorism. The report does not reflect whether or not the mission got to meet specifically with women’s groups and women’s rights defenders when they met with civil society representatives and it does not provide gender disaggregated data.

The Security Council mission was not addressed on the MAPs, however, the March 2014 MAP[1] called for the following to be taken into consideration though the Council failed to address them: the equal and full inclusion of women at all stages of conflict resolution, reconstruction and the promotion of peace and it asks the Council to also inquire into specific information on: targeted attacks of any nature on women, including women human rights defenders; the impact of the humanitarian situation on women and girls; and consultation with women’s human rights organizations in all stabilization and peace consolidation efforts. A comparison to previous work of the Council is not relevant, as there is no previous report of a Security Council mission to this region.