During his five-day stay, Jean Pierre Lacroix will hold talks with different stakeholders involved in the enhancement of peace and security.
United Nations Deputy Secretary in charge of peace keeping operations, Jean Pierre Lacroix is in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a five-day official visit. The peace boss who arrived Kinshasa on Sunday, December 13, 2020 is expected to take stock of MONUSCO activities, hold two-day talks with top ranking officials of the peace keeping mission before heading to the east of the country, the north of Kivu and then Ituri.
The visit which has been postponed several times due to the prevailing sanitary problems (COVID-19), is also expected to witness the renewal of UN mission in the country, a meeting with all NGOs working in the area, members of civil society and displaced persons. Since July 2010, the UN has deployed 17, 424 personnel to DR Congo with the aim of maintaining peace and security.
Among these personnel are; 2,970 civilians, 169 experts on mission, 1,210 police, 277 staff officer, 12,509 troops and 339 UN volunteers. The mission has been authorized to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.
It should be noted that Jean Marie Lacroix is arriving the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the midst of a political crisis, even though the situation has calmed down in recent days. Though the UN Deputy Secretary General will meet with President, Felix Tshisekedi, he will not meet with former President Joseph Kabila, because the latter is in the town of Kolwezi (headquarters of Lualaba Province), 2070 km from the capital Kinshasa. He will however meet with other leaders of the Common Front for the Congo (FCC), headed by Joseph Kabila.