There has been welcome diplomatic progress in recent months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for civilians in eastern DRC, that progress has yet to translate into greater security.<\/p>\n
I will make three points.<\/p>\n
First, the humanitarian situation remains deeply concerning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 26 million people in DRC face acute food insecurity, including 3.6 million at emergency levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conflict and displacement are compounding the effects of the Ebola outbreak and climate-related shocks.<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom continues to support the humanitarian response, including our assistance to the Ebola response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But all parties must guarantee safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access, and remove obstacles to the delivery of lifesaving assistance.<\/p>\n
Second, we welcome progress through the Doha and Washington processes, including recent EJVM+ deployments with the support of MONUSCO, alongside ongoing African Union-led mediation efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To achieve lasting peace, agreements and mechanisms must now deliver tangible improvements for people on the ground.<\/p>\n
We call on all parties to cease hostilities, implement their commitments in full, and engage constructively and in good faith with the peace processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Washington, Doha and African Union-led processes must reinforce one another, with clear coordination and African ownership.<\/p>\n
Progress also depends on those working for peace being able to do their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All parties must respect MONUSCO\u2019s mandate and guarantee the Mission the freedom of movement that it needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And all parties must fully adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law, including on the protection of civilians.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The increasing use of drones, heavy artillery, and explosive weaponry in populated areas is increasing the threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Third, the ongoing illicit exploitation and trafficking of critical minerals in the region sustains armed groups, undermines trust, and deprives communities of legitimate development.<\/p>\n
We support the Secretary-General\u2019s call for strengthening the Regional Certification Mechanism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And we encourage regional and international actors to work together to ensure stronger traceability and certification mechanisms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The development of critical minerals should reach local communities, not drive conflicts.<\/p>\n
President, sustained diplomacy has created an opportunity for progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But its measure will be on what changes on the ground: whether civilians are safer, humanitarian assistance can reach those who need it, and the parties fulfil the commitments that they have made.<\/p>\n
We urge all parties and regional leaders to turn the present diplomatic momentum into lasting peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been welcome diplomatic progress in recent months.\u00a0 But for civilians in eastern DRC, that progress has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-801503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}