For over two decades, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has faced a series of armed conflicts, resulting in millions of civilian casualties, large-scale displacement, and humanitarian crises. The 2018 election of President Felix Tshisekedi resulted in the country’s first peaceful transition of power. Despite this positive development, the situation remains gravely concerning, particularly in the country’s eastern provinces. Today, more than 100 armed groups continue to operate in eastern DRC. Civilians continue to be subjected to high rates of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Millions of Congolese are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. 

The current UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, was initially deployed in 1999. For almost the entire lifespan of the Mission, the UN Security Council has tasked MONUSCO to protect civilians from physical violence. As the longest running UN mission tasked with protecting civilians, MONUSCO has been a leader in the development of innovative protection practices, but has also failed to intervene during major attacks on civilians. In recent years, MONUSCO’s ability to implement its protection of civilians mandate has been constrained by efforts to drawdown and eventually withdraw the Mission from the country. As a result of these efforts, the Mission’s budget, number of troops, and presence in DRC have been reduced, despite the high-level of ongoing threats against civilians. 

CIVIC is currently monitoring MONUSCO’s civilian protection efforts in the context of the Mission’s drawdown and eventual withdrawal from the DRC, including through analysis of the Mission’s efforts to coordinate protection responsibilities with national authorities, humanitarians, and civil society.  

Examples of CIVIC’s research and analysis in the DRC include: 

• MONUSCO’s 2022 Mandate: Streamlined, But Missing Key Protection Language 

• Prioritizing the Protection of Civilians During Peacekeeping Transitions: Lessons Learned from MONUSCO 
• How Ugandan and Congolese Troops are conducting Joint Operations and what that could mean for MONUSCO 
• MONUSCO’s implementation of the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) and the Mission’s collaboration with national security forces 
• How MONUSCO has incorporated gender into its conflict analysis and prioritized efforts to protect civilians from conflict-related sexual violence 
• Developments in the Mission’s budget, presence, and mobility over recent years and the future of MONUSCO 

• MONUSCO’s efforts to protect civilians with a smaller footprint and reduced resources through the “Protection through Projection” strategy 
• The cycle of information-collection, storage, analysis, planning, and decision-making in MONUSCO 
• Steps MONUSCO has taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including harm that could result from the Mission’s presence, activities, and operations