MONUSCO

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO (an acronym based on its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en république démocratique du Congo), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A planned withdrawal from the country is currently on indefinite hold due to advances by the armed group M23 in the North and South Kivu provinces. MONUSCO was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo conflict. The mission was known as the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo or MONUC, an acronym of its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo, until 2010. The initial UN presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1291, was a force of military observers to observe and report on the compliance on factions with the peace accords, a deployment authorised by the earlier UNSCR 1258 (1999). UNSCR 2556 (2020) provides the authority for the current MONUSCO mandate. About US$8.74 billion was spent to fund the MONUC peacekeeping effort during 1999 to 2010. As of October 2017, the total strength of UN peacekeeping troops in DRC is approximately 18,300. More than thirty nations have contributed military and police personnel for peacekeeping effort, with India being the single largest contributor.