Ms. Coomaraswamy will seek to assess firsthand the situation of children in the DRC, and will focus on the plight of children associated with armed forces and groups, sexual violence and other crimes against children, and the special needs of internally displaced and refugee children. 

During her weeklong visit, she will meet with children affected by conflict, as well as the Government, civil society groups, NGOs and UN actors such as UNICEF and MONUC.

Her visit comes in the aftermath of the peace agreement signed last month between the DRC and the main rebel group known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and other armed groups. The pact  sought to bring to an end the violent conflict which had uprooted some 250,000 people since last year in the DRC’s strife-torn east. 

Ms. Coomaraswamy’s weeklong visit will include stops in the capital Kinshasa, Ituri district in the northeast and the volatile eastern provinces of North and South Kivu. 

Her mission comes after the Secretary General’s report on children in armed conflict in the DRC (S/2008/693), and within the framework of UN Security Council resolution 1612. Ms. Coomaraswamy last visited the DRC in March 2007. 

The separation of children from armed forces and groups is one of MONUC’s priorities, within the framework of its support to the process of the accelerated integration of armed groups into the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC).

Since January 2009, MONUC has demobilized nearly 1,000 children associated with various armed groups in North Kivu.