UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Eight years after the end of Congo's civil wars, the outgoing U.N. humanitarian chief in the country said Thursday he hopes the slow progress toward peace can be sustained.
But he warned that the sprawling nation in the heart of Africa can also backslide into conflict.
Ross Mountain, who also has been the U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative in Congo for the past five years, said he was "slightly more upbeat" because of the country's first democratic elections in decades, programs to stabilize the country, and efforts by U.N. peacekeepers and others to protect civilians.
But he said there is still insecurity in eastern Congo, the Lord's Resistance Army remains active in the north, and ethnic clashes have recently erupted in western Equateur province.
In addition, 1,500 Congolese still die every day, mainly from preventable diseases and dirty water, 70 percent of the population live below the poverty line, corruption remains rampant, and the country still suffers from decades of bad governance, he said.
Nonetheless, Mountain said, he wanted "to offer a word of hope" for Congo's future.
Congo civil wars from 1996-2002 drew in many neighboring countries in a rush to plunder the country's mineral wealth.
Looking back 5-10 years and seeing where Congo is today, Mountain said he was pleased that U.N. humanitarian and peacekeeping operations "have contributed significantly to progress — slow, inadequate — but progress over that period of time," despite many problems and challenges.
"At least the country is moving in the right direction," he said. "There needs to be hope that it can continue to progress. It is not automatic. It is not irreversible. But it is progress that needs to be sustained through the leadership of the country itself, primarily, and the continuing support of the international community."
Mountain stressed the impossibility of trying to protect all civilians in a country which is 2.4 million square kilometers — the size of Western Europe — with just 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers. He compared it to Kosovo, where NATO had well over 40,000 peacekeepers in a country of just 10,000 square kilometers.
The U.N. Security Council authorized an additional 3,000 peacekeepers last year, and Mountain said they are expected to be on the ground by the end of the year, but that is only a small boost.
With the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo approaching its 10th anniversary, there have been some suggestions that the government would like it to scale back.
Mountain said he believes the presence of U.N. peacekeepers "is extremely important for protecting civilians."
The most important thing the government needs to do to take control of the country so the U.N. can eventually withdraw is to create a slimmed-down professional army that can protect the people, reform the security sector, and ensure that former combatants are reintegrated into society, he said, and the international community must help.
Recently, Human Rights Watch accused the Congolese military of killing more than 500 civilians in eastern Congo and accused U.N. peacekeepers of doing nothing to stop them.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy ordered U.N. troops to stop supporting the Congolese army's 213th Brigade, which the U.N. believed had killed at least 62 civilians.
Mountain said the U.N. must not work with any Congolese military units that abuse or kill civilians and called for all those responsible to be brought to justice.
The U.N. is encouraged that President Joseph Kabila recently issued a decree calling for "zero tolerance" for these actions, he said.
"This is a country that has suffered an enormous amount," he said. "It isn't going to be turned around, unfortunately, in just a few months or years," Mountain said. "It's a process and it requires a certain staying power."
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