Congo Conflict - Research Paper Example

Lack of resources and labor and strategic planning prevented the country from effectively controlling mining areas, which could have starved off funding for numerous illegal groups. The country has historically been at conflict since independence from Belgium in 1960. The United Nations has been present in the country from that time although its activities were restarted after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Congo conflict has created many security and economic complications in the great lakes region.

The United Nations has played and continues to play a crucial role in peace building and development in the democratic republic of Congo, with the major aim of creating a stable government and ensuring basic human rights are maintained in the country. The conflict in the DRC is complex and has many actors with very many historical injustices mostly a legacy of colonialism. Colonial injustice forms the root cause of the conflict. This paper will argue that the international response to the Congo conflict has not been successful.

The paper will highlight the successes and failures MONUC and show that the United Nations and the International Community have not understood the underlying causes of the conflict. Addressing the root causes will help solve the crisis. Introduction Violence experienced in the Eastern Parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo is due to various ethnic and political differences. Peace has been elusive in the DRC and the United Nations is still running missions to maintain peace and stability to a region that has experienced more than one war with violence still flaring up even today.

The country has lost over millions of lives to various wars with millions more people having being internally displaced and over thousands of citizens seeking refuge in other countries due to consistent violence in volatile areas including North and South Kivu, Katanga and Itori1. Sexual violence in the region is the most prevalent problem in the country with thousands of rapes having being documented from 2005 to 20072. The country circumstances are unique because it is landlocked and surrounded by nine other nations.

Intermittent violent conflict in the DRC causes regional instability in the region due to a weakened government. The country runs in an over stretched budgets due to constant military activity. Rwanda and Uganda constantly stir violence in Congo due to their constant forays into the DRC for economic reasons. The United Nations influence became critical in 1999 when many of the democratic republic of Congo neighbors became embroiled in the conflict. The United Nation Peacekeepers were tasked with enforcing the Lusaka Accord.

The United Nation created the United States Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo commonly known as MONUC in 2000. The major responsibilities of MONUC were to implement and monitor the ceasefire agreement. MONUC was also mandated to collectively facilitate the recognition and observation basic of human rights in conjunction with other Non-Governmental Organizations. Despite the presence of the peace keeping forces, the conflict in the region never ended and consequently MONUC mandate has been extended several times with their mandate being constantly reviewed.

The peacekeeping force is now required to protect Congo citizens from violence and maintain arms embargoes placed in the region.