UN mission, Great Lakes bloc deploy team to eastern DR Congo ahead of ceasefire monitoring

By Mevlut Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have deployed a joint exploratory team to eastern Congo to assess conditions and prepare for the rollout of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism, a joint statement said on Tuesday.

The team will visit Uvira in South Kivu province from Feb. 23-27 to assess security, political and logistical conditions ahead of the monitoring mechanism for an Angolan-mediated ceasefire between the Congolese government and AFC/M23 rebel coalition.

According to the statement, the deployment came after consultation with Congolese President and ICGLR Chair Felix Tshisekedi.

It said the joint mission’s main goal is to make future ceasefire monitoring “credible, safe, and operationally feasible.”

“Effective ceasefire monitoring is intended to reduce violence and create the necessary space for a durable political solution,” said Vivian van de Perre, the interim head of MONUSCO.

She said MONUSCO will focus solely on monitoring the ceasefire in South Kivu, unlike in North Kivu and Ituri, where the mission also protects civilians.

Despite a ceasefire between Congo and M23 rebels proposed by Angolan President Joao Lourenco earlier this month, effective Feb. 18, new clashes intensified in recent days in eastern Congo, displacing thousands of people from their homes.

The M23 has been at the center of the conflict in eastern Congo. Since the rebel group resurfaced in late 2021, it has scored a series of battlefield victories, capturing several strategic towns in eastern provinces, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, seized early in 2025.

Kinshasa, the UN, and Western nations accuse Rwanda of supporting the group, which Kigali denies.