Rebuilding the Infrastructure and Helping the Displaced People of the DR Congo

Home , First Congo War, Second Congo War

MUNiSC General Assembly 1

Forum: General Assembly 1 Student Officer: JiHee Kim, Deputy President

Introduction Located in Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is considered the “heart of Africa.” The vast country is home to more than 250 different ethnic groups that speak over 200 ethnic languages. Because of this diversity of racial groups, constant conflicts and ethnic cleansing movements arise within the boundaries of DR Congo. Other factors such as corruption within the government and the formation of rebel groups also indicate that the current conflicts and tensions within the country are complex, intertwined problems that are difficult to resolve. As of 2018, the Provinces of the DR Congo Democratic Republic of Congo had 120 distinctive armed forces, including the Kamwina Nsapu militia in the Kasaï region and the Lendu militia in the Ituri region. Such military forces have led to various violations of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thousands of people were internally displaced, while many others fled to the neighboring country of Angola. Wars also destroyed the infrastructure of the country, causing DR Congo to face one of the worst infrastructure challenges on the African continent. Nonetheless, through efforts made by the government and organizations such as the UNHCR, it has been reported that many of these displaced people have been returning to their homes, especially within the Kasaï region.

Background Road to Contemporary Conflicts After its independence in 1960, the Democratic Republic of Congo went under regional conflict due to differences in culture and ethnicity. The country was soon unified under Joseph Mobutu as the nation of Zaire, but Mobutu’s greed for power eventually led to his downfall. In 1994, the Rwandan Genocide left a devastating effect on the Democratic Republic of Congo, as more than two million Hutu people, afraid of the new Tutsi-based government in Rwanda, sought refuge in DR Congo, building up to the conflict commonly known as the First Congo War. In the First Congo War, Rwandan and Ugandan forces invaded DR Congo in attempts to get rid of all executors of the genocide. They created a coalition with Laurent Kabila, who later became the president. However, Kabila’s fear of Rwanda and Uganda exploiting the valuable

© MUNiSC 2020 MUNiSC General Assembly 1 resources of DR Congo caused him to order them out of the Eastern region of the DRC, indicating the start of the Second Congo War. The Second Congo War caused the death of more than 5 million, mostly by starvation and disease. In 2003, a peace treaty was signed, and the war was declared over. Nevertheless, the country continues to be unstable and has led to an increase in ethnic consciousness and militias.

Cultural Differences In prehistoric times, different ethnics groups in the DRC were isolated from each other within the thick forests of the territory. Here, they developed their own unique cultures that were different from each other, causing DR Congo to become one of the most diverse countries in the world. After the colonization of the Congo to Belgium, populations decreased immensely, mostly due to the increasing demand for slaves. The desire for independence and the increase of poverty united these ethnic groups to fight to consolidate their power over the Belgians. Nonetheless, after achieving independence, as governments became more corrupt, different ethnicities began to take different stances, leading to different armed forces and militia for a common political purpose. These political purposes are related to eligibility for citizenship of specific regions and the support for the president.

Displaced People of the DR Congo Conflicts Within the DRC 1. Kasaï Province The Kamwina Nsapu militia was first attempted to form in 2011 after the re-election of President Joseph Kabila. This organization was endeavored by a man named Jean-Pierre Mpandi, also known as Kamwina Nsapu, as an armed rebellion against the Congolese government. Mpandi’s primary goal was to clear the province of Kasaï of all state security forces because he thought the government “abused the local population and withheld a large share of the state’s wealth.” After the death of Mpandi on August 12, 2016, the internal conflict officially began, causing over 1.3 million people to become internally displaced, as well as another 30,000 to flee to the neighboring country of Angola as refugees. A rebellion was fueled primarily through the belief that the death of Mpandi was caused by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), the state military of the country. The state began to acknowledge this military force as a terrorist group, and the intense fighting between the two powers began, causing severe displacement among the people and sharp increases in the demand for humanitarian aid. Conflicts related to the Kamwina Nsapu military have caused many civilians and government officials to die. They have also received criticism for recruiting hundreds of child soldiers and burning down schools and churches. Centered in the Kasaï region, the Kamwina Nsapu military has heavily consisted of the ethnic group of Luba.

2. Katanga Province The Katanga region is the wealthiest province in DR Congo, accounting for 71 percent of the country's revenue. This province attempted to create a breakaway state from the DRC ever since the independence from Belgium in 1960. Although the state of Katanga failed to

© MUNiSC 2020 MUNiSC General Assembly 1 achieve its sovereignty and was integrated into DR Congo in 1963, the country still holds many separatist-based citizen armed forces today. In 2011, conflicts between the state and the rebel forces intensified. This happened after the rebel leader Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga managed to escape prison, stimulating the Mai Mai Kata Katanga militia, the militia which Mutanga is in charge of, to double their efforts in creating an independent state. Conflicts, for this reason, has resulted in the internal displacement of 600,000 people.

3. Ituri Province In the province of Ituri, conflicts between the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups have taken place since the year 1972. According to the UNHCR, these armed conflicts are still causing thousands of people in this Northeastern region to flee from their homes. Many experts claim that the problem in this region is due to the lack of real political authority. Instead, the region of Ituri is full of small armed forces that compete for the control of the natural resources in the area. The Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FPRI), one of the major militias in this province, is a rebel group that also made the conflict worse by launching attacks on the government forces and civilians in ways that included rape, stealing, and arson. The battles between the region and government forces caused tens of thousands of people to be displaced, indicating a very complex problem.

Displaced People of the Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of Congo is estimated to have approximately 4.5 million displaced people due to conflict. In the Kasaï region, which once used to be one of the most stable areas in the country, conflicts cause an average of 8,000 people to become displaced every day. Millions of people need humanitarian aid, and many are exposed to the danger of epidemics.

In October 2018, however, the The Abundance of Natural Resources UNHCR mentioned that some of the refugees from settlements in Angola have been returning to the region of Kasaï due to “improved security in some of their places of origin.” These improved security measures were able to take place due to the improvements in political stability as the government increased their presence in areas of conflict. Nonetheless, the Security Council, in response to this phenomenon, encouraged the government of the DRC to take steps in reform its professionalism and integrity of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). The UNHCR and the Security Council also warned about the Northwestern regions, where the number of displaced people was instead increasing rather than decreasing.

Infrastructure Challenges The constant wars within the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo have led to serious infrastructure challenges. Currently, within DR Congo, there is a lack of roads and railroads that connect the country. The Belgians left road networks, but there was no maintenance done on them, making them useless. Roads have neither been developed nor

© MUNiSC 2020 MUNiSC General Assembly 1 maintained, causing citizens days, even weeks, to reach an area by road. Factors such as vast geography, low population density, and extensive forestlands further complicate this issue. Alarmingly, 7.5 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance and protection. Diseases are also a significant problem within the country as malaria statistics are high, and cholera outbreaks are also quite frequent. Education remains a challenge in addition to these inadequate healthcare systems. Still, there have been efforts to make progress since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003. A privately funded GSM network has been able to provide mobile telephone services to two-thirds of the population. However, the country must still work to improve and invest in factors such as hydropower and power generation to sufficiently meet the demands of the country.

International Actions United Nations Organizations In response to the severe levels of displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations have stepped up to provide humanitarian aid to the country. Specifically, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a United Nations agency in work with refugees all across the world, works with displaced people in DR Congo by providing protection and assistance to those in need of aid. On August 14, 2018,

UNHCR Within the DR Congo the UNHCR declared an L2 emergency in the provinces of Nord-Kivu and Ituri provinces. The agency worked on recording and responding to all violations of human rights, and with the UNHCR’s help, over 13,000 people received direct support. The UNHCR is also involved in the current process of Congolese returning from Angola, having provided cash and transportation assistance to 15,255 returnees as of November 11, 2019. The United Nations also attempt to help the crisis through the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces near the borderlines where the conflict is heavily centered and where the displacement mostly occurs.

Non-Governmental Organizations Other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also worked with the crisis of displacement in DR Congo. The International Red Cross revealed that in 2018, they provided health care to 394,000 people, gave access to water to 586,000 people, and gave materialistic support to 495,000 people. Danish Refugee Council, another non-profit organization, also works to support the 920,000 displaced people primarily within the province of the North Kivu.

International Conferences

In 2018, doctors held a Humanitarian Conference in Geneva regarding the situation in DR Congo. The conference was called together by the United Nations to provide aid to the millions of Congolese in desperate humanitarian need. Nonetheless, DR Congo refused to participate in the conference because they did not want to be "complicit in a swindle." In 2014, however, DR Congo ratified to the Kampala Convention, a treaty of the African Union. The convention was made in efforts to address the rapid escalation in conflicts in the North Kivu, Orientale, Maniema and Katanga provinces. Nonetheless, experts predicted that the convention might do things in the long run; it did not affect the problem in the short run at all.

United States of America Both Trump and Obama administrations made significant efforts to transfer electoral power in DR Congo through “credible” elections, in opposition to the corrupted political elections that have been taking place since the Congo Wars. It has also been revealed that the Congress has "shaped U.S. policy toward DRC, often focusing on human rights and democracy" in order to "deter further electoral calendar slippage and abuses against the people of Congo." The United States is also the largest humanitarian donor to DR Congo.

United Kingdom The United Kingdom has also provided significant lifesaving aid to the displaced people in DR Congo. In 2017, the Department for International Development presented a five-year plan that had six goals: 1. Over 620,000 people with food assistance 2. 220,000 children under the age of 5 with vital nutrition 3. Over 1.1 million people with access to clean drinking water 4. 900,000 with essential health care such as drugs for pregnant mothers 5. Over 195,000 children with access to education 6. 12,000 survivors of trauma, including gender-based violence with psychosocial support and counseling.

France France, as well as the rest of the European Nations, have become reserved, leading to reduced pressure. Although France did sanction individuals related to the Kasaï conflict in 2017, it was not much effective.

China The Chinese have not mentioned much about the displacement crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nonetheless, Chinese construction firms have aided the country by building roads, thus improving the damaged infrastructure in DR Congo.

Russian Federation Flags of the P5 Nations The Russian Federation has also not mentioned anything specific about the displaced

Places of High Concern Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of Congo is the place that is most relevant to Poverty in the DR Congo the issue of improving the infrastructure and aiding the displaced people in DR Congo. As the country undergoes many ethnic conflicts, it is one of their significant priorities to care for its citizens as they constantly have to move across the country and even outside of its borders to attain safety. DR Congo must work to improve its state condition and infrastructure, especially within the rural areas. One of the main reasons for political instability is due to the corrupt government in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eighty-five percent of all citizens in DR Congo stated that the amount of bribery was increasing in a poll done by Transparency International in 2019. Eighty percent said that they needed to pay bribes for public services, which are services such as the police and identification documents. Government corruption is also a major problem because it acts as a significant blockade towards businesses operating within the country.

Angola As the bordering country near the Kasaï Province, Angola has been concerned with the

displacement crisis of the Democratic Republic Child Soldiers of the Kamwina Nsapu Militia of Congo as it held refuge to over 30,000 refugees due to the Kamwina Nsapu Rebellion in 2016. As more and more of these refugees are returning to their homes, the government of Angola is currently working with both the government of DR Congo and the United Nations to provide peaceful, quick, and safe means to get these refugees to safety.

Possible Solutions Negotiations for Ethnic Conflicts If exaggerated, it can even be said that ethnic differences are the leading cause of the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resolutions must be made in efforts to unify and bring peace to the country. For this to happen, the first step is to find ways to breakdown the numerous ethnic militias. Since many of these ethnic militias are built as rebellious forces against the government, it is essential to acknowledge what precisely these armed men are fighting against and to make corresponding changes to fulfill the peace among the people. The

© MUNiSC 2020 MUNiSC General Assembly 1 second step, then, is to make laws and negotiations that satisfy all of the different people and cultures, in attempts to efficiently prevent potential conflicts.

Laws Regarding Natural Resources The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to a large number of natural resources that include a multitude of minerals, such as gold, diamonds, and copper, to timber and oil. Nonetheless, in contrast to it being one of the riches in such resources, DR Congo remains an impoverished country due to illegal exploitations. These natural resources also caused the violation of many human rights in DR Congo. The weak state laws make it very hard for the rightful punishment of corrupted companies, therefore calling for the advocation of stricter enforcement of these laws. DR Congo must explore the means to make this corrupted system into a fair system in which the minority does not monopolize the resources. With this problem, the corruption of the government is highly integrated and should be addressed as well.

Improvements in Infrastructure The Democratic Republic of Congo hardly has any roads or railways, nor a basic, sustainable education system. Improvements in such infrastructures must be made. In regards to roads or railways, the government must find efficient and fast ways to develop these forms of transportation and find a way to make these systems more accessible to the general public. DR Congo should then regulate how to maintain these infrastructures so that they will not be destroyed again in probable future conflicts. In addition to such transportation systems, more schools should be built within DR Congo. Although the country has made much progress, the country is still one of the countries with the most out-of-school children. Thus, the government should work to make education widespread, as well as improving the current curriculum through

The Roads of DR Congo means such as standardizing learning assessments and improving the education of girls. The DRC must also work to improve the healthcare system within the country, as the country suffers from high HIV and malaria infection.

Raising Awareness (for poverty) As simple as it may sound, it is absolutely crucial to raise awareness about the current situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even while disregarding political and ethnic factors that trouble the country, poverty is a significant problem. In DR Congo, half of the whole population lives under the poverty line and lives on less than $1 per day. Human rights are also constantly violated as statistics show that 48 women are raped every hour while 10,000 innocent civilians are killed every month. UNHCR statistics also show that the financial need to support the displaced people is not enough, indicating a strong need for foreign aid.

Glossary Displaced People: a person who is forced to leave their home because of war, persecution, or natural disaster. There are both internally displaced people and externally displaced people. Internally displaced people are those who leave their homes but remain within the boundaries of the country. In contrast, externally displaced people leave their homes and the borders of their home country.

GSM network (Global System for Network Communications): a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe the protocols for second-generation digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

L2 Emergency (UNICEF procedure for Level 2 Emergencies): a situation where the magnitude of the emergency is such that a Country Office needs additional and prioritized support from other parts of the organization (Headquarters, Regional and Country Offices) to respond, and where the Regional Office (RO) must provide dedicated leadership and support.

Militia: a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency.

Refugee: displacement across country borders; refugees are an example of externally displaced people.

Timeline 1960 A. D. – Independence from Belgium 1994 – Rwandan Genocide 1996-1997 – First Congo War 1998-2003 – Second Congo War; 2003: Peace Treaty Signed 2006 – The first elections in four decades takes place — Joseph Kabila wins. 2007 – Outbreak of Ebola Virus 2011 – Reelection of Kabila 2016 – The death of Jean-Pierre Mpandi leads to the beginning of the Kasaï Conflict. 2017 – A “mega-crisis” happens within DR Congo as millions of people are running from conflict. 2019 – A controversial election takes place in which Tshisekedi ends up winning.

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