The government in the DRC is struggling to control rebel forces in the vast nation. The rebel forces are backed by Rwandan and Ugandan militia, whist the Congolese government is supported by the international community, the UN, its neighbours Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe and the Uruguayan troops currently posted in the DRC. The Uruguayan troops speak Spanish and the Congolese citizens speak French, which is one of the many problems that the peacekeeping force confronts. The size of the country and its dense jungle is also problematic for its relatively small peacekeeping force. Sporadic coup attempts have occurred since 2008 and the militant rebels continue to fall into armed conflict with civilians and UN troops despite ceasefire and peace agreements being signed.
Historically peacekeeping forces have not been given a mandate as extreme as the one given to peacekeepers in the DRC, thus the questions remains, why now and why them? Considering the volatile and tragic history of the DRC’s neighbour Rwanda and the lack of UN and international action in the Rwandan massacres it can be argued that the United Nations cannot afford to further tarnish its reputation or succumb to any more accusations that it is an ‘irrelevant institution’ by ignoring the situation in the DRC. In this case peacekeeping is being used to avoid the further degradation of the United Nations reputation, should the situation in the DRC get out of control.
peacekeeping390 