Resolution nº S/RES/2556 (2020) of the United Nations Security Council

• Issuer: Security Council of the United Nation

United Nations

S

/RES/ 2556 (2 020)

Security Council

Distr. : Gener al

18 Dec ember 2 020

20-174 40 (E)

*2017440*

Resolution 2556 (2020)

Adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 202 0

The S ecurity Counci l,

Reca llin g its previous resoluti ons and th e statem ents of it s Preside nt concer ning

the D emocrat ic Republ ic of the C ongo (DR C), espe cially it s resolut ions 2 528 (202 0),

2502 (2019), 2 478 (20 19), 2463 (2019) , 2424 (2 018), 240 9 (2018) , 2389 (2 017), a nd

prev ious re solution s regard ing th e manda te of MONUSCO and t he sanc tions r egime

esta blished by resol utions 1493 (20 03) and 1807 ( 2008),

Reaf firm ing the b asic pri nciples of pe acekeep ing, incl uding co nsent of the

part ies, im partialit y, a nd non -use o f forc e, exce pt in self-de fence and def ence o f the

mand ate, and recogni sing tha t the ma ndate of each pe ace-kee ping mi ssion is specific

to th e need and situ ation of the cou ntry con cerned,

Reaf firm ing its stro ng com mitment to the sovereig nty, indep endence , unity and

terri torial in tegrity of the DR C as we ll as all States i n the reg ion and emphas ising th e

need to res pect fully the pr inciples of non -inter ference, go od-neig hbourli ness and

regi onal coo peration ,

Reca llin g that th e Gov ernment of t he DRC bears the primary respo nsibilit y to

prot ect civilia ns within its territo ry and subj ect to its jur isdictio n, includi ng protec tion

from crimes against humanit y and wa r crime s,

Noti ng that th e DRC continu es to suffer from re curring and e volving cycles of

conf lict an d pers istent viol ence b y fore ign an d dome stic arm ed gro ups, w hich

exac erbate a deeply co ncerning se curity, human rig hts and humani tarian crisi s, a s

well as inter -commu nal and militia v iolence in area s of the DRC,

Reco gnis ing the effort s of the G overnme nt and th e people o f the DR C aiming at

the achiev ement of pe ace a nd nat ional develop ment, furth er reco gnising the efforts

of the Armed Fo rces of the DRC ( FARDC ) a nd the United N ations Orga nizatio n

Stab ilisatio n Mi ssion in the DRC (MON USCO) in addre ssing the threa t p osed by

arme d group s in t he DRC , enco ura ging th e conti nuation of eff orts by the Se cretary -

Gene ral of th e U nited Nation s, h is s pecial envo y fo r th e Gr eat Lakes, the African

Unio n (AU) , the Interna tional Confer ence o n the Great Lakes Region (ICGL R), th e

Sout hern Africa n Develop ment Comm unity (SA DC) and signa tory Stat es of the Peac e

and Sec urity (PSC ) F ramewor k for the DRC and th e r egion to resto re peace and

secur ity in the DRC, and enco ura ging th e Gov ernment of the DR C to ensu re

cont inuous c lose coo peratio n with t hese an d other internati onal pa rties,

S/RES/2556 (2020)

20-17440

2/17

Reco gnis ing the import ance of confid ence-b uilding, facili tation, medi ation,

good offices , and co mmunit y engag ement to achiev e peace and se curity i n the D RC,

and the need for MO NUSCO, as appr opriate an d when poss ible, to con tinue to exp lore

how i t can use these te chniqu es to enh ance its ability t o suppor t the Mis sion’s

prot ection, its info rmation gatheri ng and situati onal aw areness, and t o imple ment it s

mand ated tas ks, incl uding t o protec t civili ans,

Reaf firm ing the im portant role of wom en and youth in th e p reventio n,

mana gement and r esolutio n of conf licts, and in pea cebuildi ng, stress ing th e

impo rtance of th eir fu ll, eff ective and m eaningf ul par ticipatio n in all e fforts for th e

main tenance of and p romotio n of pea ce and security in the DRC,

Expre ssing g reat con cern o ver the hum anitaria n situa tion th at has left an

estim ated 25 .6 m illion C ongolese in need of h umanita rian assi stance, fur ther

expre ssing d eep co ncern rega rding t he gro wing n umber of i nternal ly disp laced

perso ns in the DRC with 5.2 milli on estima ted to ha ve been displace d to date, and the

529,0 00 r efugees in the DRC, as well as th e mo re th an 93 4,000 refuge es fr om t he

DRC i n Africa a s a resul t of ongo ing hosti lities, fu rther ca lling upo n the D RC and al l

Stat es in th e regio n to wo rk towa rds a p eaceful environ ment cond ucive t o the

reali zation of dur able solu tions for refu gees and int ernally di splaced pers ons,

inclu ding t heir ev entual voluntar y retur n and reinteg ration in the DRC in condi tions

of sa fety and dignit y, wit h the su pport of the Uni ted Nati ons Cou ntry Tea m (UNCT ),

stress ing tha t a ny such solut ion should be in lin e w ith relevan t o bligatio ns under

inter nationa l r efugee law, inte rnationa l humanita rian law and int ernation al human

right s law, and comm endi ng Un ited Natio ns humani tarian age ncies, par tners, and

dono rs for their efforts to pro vide u rgent a nd coo rdinated suppo rt to the po pulation ,

calli ng on memb er St ates and other inter national par tners to scale up fundin g an d

cont ribute t o the Un ited Na tions hu manitari an appe als for the DRC and th e region to

help e nsure that Un ited Natio ns hu manitar ian ag encies and othe r inte rnation al

organ izations are fully funded a nd able to urgently respond t o the hum anitaria n needs

in the coun try, incl uding by a ddressi ng the pro tection and assist ance n eeds o f

inter nally displac ed per sons, all sur vivors of se xual a nd gen der-ba sed vio lence, and

othe r vulner able com munitie s,

Reca llin g th e UN gu iding pr inciple s of hum anitaria n emerge ncy ass istance,

Reca lling re solution 2532 (20 20) dem anding a general a nd immed iate ces sation

of hostil ities in all situati ons on the Council ’s agenda , as we ll a s ca lling upon all

part ies to ar med conf licts to engage immedia tely in a durabl e huma nitaria n pause f or

at leas t 90 consecu tive days, i n o rder to ena ble the safe, t imely, unhin dered and

sust ained delive ry of hu manitari an a ssistanc e in acco rdance with the hum anitaria n

prin ciples o f humani ty, neutra lity, impa rtiality and ind ependen ce,

Comm end ing M ONUSCO for th e pre ventive m easures ta ken to figh t the

COVI D-19 pande mic and recallin g its request to the Secr etary-G eneral to instru ct

peac e-keepi ng operat ions to pr ovide su pport, wi thin the ir manda tes and ca pacities , to

host c ountry au thoritie s in their eff orts to con tain the pan demic, in p articul ar to

facil itate hu manitar ian acce ss, incl uding to internal ly displ aced per sons an d refuge es

camp s a nd a llow for medi cal evacuat ions, as well as its requ est to the Secreta ry-

Gene ral and M ember St ates to t ake all ap propria te steps to protect the safet y, secu rity

and h ealth of all UN pers onnel in UN peac e operat ions, wh ile main taining the

cont inuity of op eration s, and to take f urther steps towar ds the prov ision of tra ining

for p eacekee ping pe rsonnel on issu es relat ed to pr eventin g the sp read of COVID -19,

Reca llin g all it s rele vant r esoluti ons on wom en, pe ace an d sec urity, o n you th,

peac e and se curity, on childre n and a rmed co nflict, and on t he prote ction of civili ans

in armed confli ct, w elco min g efforts of the G overnme nt of the DRC in th is reg ard,

furth er w elc omin g effort s by the Gove rnment of the DRC to impleme nt r esolutio n