I share the serious concerns about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which we are following closely with our EU partners. The Foreign Affairs Council which I attended on 23 May adopted Conclusions expressing deep concern at developments and calling on the Government and all other stakeholders, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission, to create urgently the conditions necessary to hold free, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections and to resume the electoral process as soon as possible.
The Conclusions also underlined our concern about the obstacles to political debate in the country and reiterated that, in the run-up to the elections, ensuring respect for human rights, particularly civil liberties, and safeguarding an open political space are crucial prerequisites for real and credible dialogue. The security situation in the east of the DRC remains precarious, causing population displacements and significant humanitarian needs, and the Conclusions strongly condemned the continued attacks by armed groups and the extreme violence being inflicted on the population of the DRC. The EU and Member States have provided substantial support to the DRC, investing some €10 billion over the last ten years in peacekeeping, and humanitarian and development assistance.
At present four Irish Defence Forces personnel are serving with the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), which is making a critical contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights.
Ireland raised the situation in the DRC during a UN Security Council Open Debate on Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts in the Great Lakes Region in March 2016, stressing the importance of respect for the rule of law, human rights and Constitutional provisions in the coming period. The issue of electoral tensions was also raised by the Irish side at a meeting earlier this year between officials of my Department and representatives from the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in London, stressing the importance of timely elections and peaceful cooperation between all parties.
Ireland has provided very significant levels of for the DRC. Between 2010 and 2015, we provided €44.61 million in funding to the DRC. Of this, €30.02 million was in humanitarian assistance, including €24.3 million allocated to the UN Common Humanitarian Fund for the DRC, and the remainder through NGO partners. €14.59 million was allocated to a range of civil society partners for their work on human rights, democracy, peace building and rule of law in DRC. To date in 2016, we have provided over €4.8million in humanitarian funding to the DRC.
In addition to this funding, Irish Aid has deployed two rapid responders to DRC this year. These experienced specialists helped provide much needed surge capacity to UNICEF’s response operations on the ground, focusing on child protection and cash programming.
