There has been some skepticism of the “STAREC” stabilization plan supported by the United Nations. What does it bring in concrete terms?

The skepticism, it is healthy, but when facing problems, what is important is to act. And the ambition of STAREC, designed by the Congolese authorities and supported by the international community through the Strategy of Stabilization set in place by the United Nations, is: to act conclusively in the post conflict zones to consolidate the security situation, to restore the authority of the state, to help displaced people return home and to relaunch local community economies.

Beyond the political agreements and the military operations, medium term actions are necessary, such as those being implemented within the STAREC framework to strengthen the peace. Concretely, this means improving the security situation by reinforcing the professionalism of the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), and by cantoning them in barracks, to deploy police, administrative and judicial authorities in these zones to take the place of the FARDC, and to assure the presence of a rule of law, to rebuild the roads and administrative buildings and to assist communities with the rebuilding of schools and health centres.

The post conflict zones need security, the presence of state authority, and assistance for social and economic development. It is necessary to intervene in all these areas. 


What is the role of the United Nations?

The United Nations support the Congolese government in the implementation of the STAREC programme, through what we call the Support Strategy for Security and Stabilization. This is the principal framework through which the international community supports STAREC, so that all efforts are coherent, coordinated and follow the priorities defined by the Congolese authorities in particular.

The United Nations (MONUC and the UN agencies) play their usual role, supporting the authorities and coordinating the assistance of the international community, to provide a technical support to design programmes and projects, and to mobilise the necessary funds.

The United Nations also brings a very concrete operational aid on the ground to directly set the projects in motion, such as: rehabilitation of roads and the construction of buildings and other infrastructure. There are already 15 projects underway, funded with more than 130 million dollars. The Congolese have already seen the first results of the plan, such as the reconstruction of the Ituri 2 bridge in Mambasa, on the Bunia-Kisangani road. 


Do you have other concrete examples of the Support Strategy for Security and Stabilization, in support of the STAREC plan?

The list would be probably too long, but I will mention some examples for all the areas of stabilization that I evoked earlier. In the area of security, there is the construction of garrisons notably for the FARDC in the Kivus and Ituri by the UN Development Programme.

With regard to the restoration of the state authority, there is the rehabilitation of close to 3,000 kilometres of roads by the military engineers of MONUC and UNOPS. These road projects provide employment to 4,500 Congolese and they have a very concrete impact on the life of locals, as with the reopening of roads, the price of food commodities decreases, and farmers have better access to sell their produce in urban markets.

50 public buildings are under construction by UNOPS and the OIM, such as: police stations, peace courts, prisons and other state administration buildings, which will aid the spread of state authority.

With regard to assistance to displaced people returning home, a joint FAO-UNDP-UNICEF-UNHCR programme has started in the Kivu provinces - in 80 localities - to realunch basic services, in particular schools and health centres. And all these reconstruction projects employ local people. 


Is the United Nations concentrating their actions in the Kivu provinces and Ituri district?

The first projects have been implemented in the important zones defined by the national and provincial authorities. It is important to concentrate efforts in the critical geographical zones where intervetions can have the most impact, to consolidate the situation and hopefully to perpetuate the peace.

In these important zones, we try to intervene in all the areas that that I evoked earlier. It is therefore about an overall approach in the target zones. Some supplementary resources would permit a widening of the field of action in the future. STAREC also foresees similar efforts in the Uele districts in Oriental Province, in Tanganyika district in Katanga, and in Maniema. 


A new Stabilization and Reconstruction Fund for the DRC has been announced. What will it be used for?

Up to now, funds for the projects in support of STAREC were managed bilaterally, including the 130 million that was mentioned earlier. With the Stabilization and Reconstruction fund, jointly managed by the government and the international community, the idea is to channel the financial resources that the donors bring in support to the stabilization plan.

It will be simpler to manage, and will allow a more rapid and flexible allocation of the necessary financial means to implement more efficiently the government’s plan. The efficiency of this type of mechanism has already been proven within the implementation of humanitarian actions in the DRC. 


An initial United Nations contribution of 20 million dollars to this fund has also been announced. How will this money be used?

This contribution comes from a special United Nations fund, the Fund for Consolidating Peace, which supports similar initiatives like STAREC throughout the world, to help the transition from conflict towards lasting peace. The board of directors of the Stabilization and Reconstruction Fund decided to finance seven projects with this money.

These include: the rehabilitation of training centres for the FARDC; the construction of lodgings for the dependents and families of the FARDC; the communal reinsertion of ex-combatants, support to the deployment of Congolese National Police in strategic zones, support to war wounded, the establishment of trading centers in the mining zones - to reinforce state control on the trade of ores; and finally support to the STAREC coordination structure.

The Netherlands and Belgium were the first countries to announce some contributions to the new fund, for projects that will assist in the fight against sexual violence. It is a strong sign of the international community’s engagement to decisively support the Congolese authorities in an important phase for the country.