By RFPosted on 31-08-2019Modified on 31-08-2019 at 03:51

Antonio Guterres begins a three-day visit to the DRC. For his first visit to the country as Secretary-General of the UN, he will travel to the east of the country, affected by the Ebola epidemic and plagued by violence by armed groups.

The milestone of 2,000 deaths is crossed , a new case was detected Thursday in Uganda : the latest developments on the Ebola front worry.

On Sunday Antonio Guterres will go to Beni and Mangina from where this epidemic took place. The opportunity to evaluate the situation of the epidemic and especially to show its support to the teams on the front line in the fight against the disease who still face a lot of resistance from a section of the population and to advocate for funding do not run out of steam

Ebola has already killed 2,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tomorrow I go to the areas affected by the virus to express my solidarity with the victims, their families, the Congolese people and all those who bravely fight to eradicate this epidemic. https://t.co/86JQld1fEK

António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 30, 2019

Nearly 2,000 civilians killed by armed groups in one year

Prior to this, the UN Secretary-General is stopping this Saturday in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, where he will talk about the humanitarian crisis that is not going away and the security challenge and its corollary, the protection of human rights. civilians, at the heart of Monusco's mandate. According to a recent GEC report, the Congo Study Group, 130 armed groups still operate in eastern DRC and have killed 1,900 civilians in two years.

The issue of disarmament of ex-combatants will also be raised. Between 2,000 and 3,000 have reportedly surrendered or have expressed plans to do so since the beginning of the year, but there is currently no functional demobilization program. And for the UN, which is thinking about its strategy of withdrawing from the DRC, it is a priority.

Support to President Tshisekedi

Monday's day in Kinshasa will be the most political. In July 2018, Antonio Guterres had to cancel his last-minute visit amid tensions with former president Joseph Kabila.

This time, in addition to President Felix Tshisekedi, the Secretary General of the UN will meet the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly. The opportunity to show support for the new authorities, but also to plead for everyone to be involved in preserving the " gains of the political transition " which is recognized in the UN that it remains " fragile ".

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