United
Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) has suffered nearly two decades of turmoil, particularly in the eastern
provinces. The use of landmines was a feature during the conflict and Explosive
Remnants of War from the fighting remain a hazard.
UNMAS established a presence in the
DRC in 2002 to assist MONUSCO and GoDRC with explosive hazard management
activities. In compliance with Security Council Resolutions 2098 (2013), 2463
(2019) and more recently 2502 (2019), UNMAS DRC runs two main projects in
the DRC, one in support of MONUSCO and another one in support of the GoDRC and
the UN Country Team (UNCT).
In December 2019, SCR 2502 was
adopted by the Security Council that called for:
‘Calls for continued
national efforts to address the threat posed by the illicit transfer,
destabilising accumulation and misuse of small arms and light
weapons, including inter alia through ensuring the safe and effective
management, storage and security of their stockpiles of weapons and
ammunition, with the continued support of MONUSCO, as appropriate and
within existing resources’ (OP21)as well as Advise and support the DRC
authorities in the disposal of weapons and ammunitions of disarmed Congolese
and foreign combatants in compliance with resolution 2424 (2018) as well as
applicable international arms control treaties, including the Nairobi Protocol
of which the DRC is signatory party and the Kinshasa Convention (OP 29 ii
(j))'
UNMAS DRC supports MONUSCO in the
achievement of its mandated objectives under the strategic component: (1)
Protection of Civilians (PoC) and Human Rights. UNMAS DRC does so through
explosive hazard management, including survey, clearance and disposal of
explosive hazards, including unsafe ammunition stockpile of FARDC and Congolese
national police, assessment and destruction of unserviceable, obsolete or
surplus ammunition from Troop/Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs) and
assessment and destruction of weapons and ammunition surrendered during
the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement
process, supporting national efforts to address the threat posed by the
uncontrolled proliferation and misuse of SALW in the DRC; provision of awareness
sessions to UN personnel; as well as through the provision of technical support
and advice on weapons and ammunition stockpile management both to the GoDRC and
relevant MONUSCO sections. UNMAS DRC also stands ready to support any other
requests from the Mission, wherever possible, for example, the assessment and
clearance of Mission premises on closure, prior to returning to civilian use.
These activities are in line with the UNMAS Strategic Objective 2 and 4 of the
UNMAS Multi-Year Strategic Plan and contributes to UNMAS vision for the DRC: “
a country free from the threat of mines, explosive hazards, and armed violence,
where communities live in a safe and secure environment, and where national
security institutions and authorities have the capacity to address the residual
explosive threat and adequately store and manage their weapons, ammunitions and
stockpiles.”
UNMAS Objectives
In accordance with MONUSCO mandate and strategic
objectives, UNMAS aims to develop National capacities to improve the security
of Small Arms & Light Weapons (SALW) and ammunition of the National Defence and Security Forces. The project focuses on
equipping and training the National Forces and Police for a better physical security and management
processes of weapons and ammunition of stated owned stockpiles. In addition, the program plans to establish
an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Threat Mitigation capacity in
DRC, with the objective of ensuring effective prioritization of tasks, utilization of resources, and
encouraging common messaging by all UN, governmental, non-governmental and commercial implementers engaged
in related activities countrywide.