Democratic Republic of the Congo: Day 11 – A Full Fay of Meetings in Goma
11 novembre 2010After spending yesterday afternoon at the Uruguayan naval base outside of Goma, our last day in the Eastern DRC is filled with six meetings. We spend a very productive 90 minutes with the UNPOL sector chief for South Kivu and his team. We are joined by MONUSCO’s deputy policy commissioner, who was instrumental in planning our schedule and facilitating the extensive logistical support UNPOL has provided us with a thank you, Pierre. The conversation quickly focuses on the UN police’s efforts to train the Congolese National Police. We discuss the possible involvement of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in providing training of trainers, something that we will have to further explore upon our return to Ottawa.
In two intense meetings with representatives from the Joint Monitoring and Joint Protection Teams we continue learning more about MONUSCO’s efforts to protect civilians beyond the use of its military means. After visiting the Pakistani Company Operating Base in Goma over lunch, we spend the afternoon in fascinating discussions about MONUSCO’s strategic vision. From humanitarian organizations we learn about the sensitive relationship between those non-UN agencies delivering humanitarian relief and MONUSCO’s military components.
One issue that all our conversation partners mention are the logistical challenges that the mission is faced with. Although it is indeed the UN’s largest peace operation, the geographical terrain is unforgiving and presents challenges that are sometimes insurmountable. Given the tremendous challenges that DRC continues to be struggling with at every level, the tasks assigned to MONUSCO are ambitious and we find ourselves wondering what strategic success in such an environment would look like. Clearly, MONUSCO is able to achieve day-to-day and medium-term operational impact but the long-term challenges are immense.
-Martin and Kristine, Membres du personnel du Centre Pearson pour le maintien de la paix
