Tshisekedi Urges MONUSCO’s “Credible Technical” Support for Ceasefire

Kinshasa, February 14, 2026 - On the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres for “urgent and credible technical support” from MONUSCO to operationalize the ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism in eastern DRC.

The meeting focused on the security situation in the Great Lakes region, strengthening multilateral cooperation, and the DRC’s role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. President Tshisekedi reaffirmed the DRC’s commitment to consolidating peace efforts and emphasized the need to move from exhortations to action to ensure compliance with international law and agreements under regional and international frameworks.

“We need credible technical support from MONUSCO to guarantee the operationalization of the ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism,” Tshisekedi stated, citing UN Security Council resolution 2808 (2025).

Secretary-General Guterres pledged the UN’s support for the implementation of the established ceasefire architecture, welcoming the DRC’s engagement in fair and effective multilateralism.

On the ground, the acting head of MONUSCO, Vivian van de Perre, traveled to Goma on Thursday to support preparations for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire. Arriving by air-marking the first flight access to Goma since January 2025-she is scheduled to meet with stakeholders to advance the practical arrangements for the mechanism.

“I am going to Goma to support preparations for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire, in close coordination with the established ceasefire architecture, including the EJVM+,” van de Perre said.

MONUSCO is authorized under resolution 2808 (2025) to provide technical and logistical support to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) through the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus (EJVM+). An initial team of peacekeepers will be deployed to Uvira, South Kivu, to assist the ceasefire monitoring mechanism. This deployment is limited and technical, not constituting a permanent return to the province, from which MONUSCO withdrew in June 2024.

Peacekeepers remain actively deployed in Ituri and North Kivu, continuing their support for security and monitoring operations in eastern DRC.