Since its independence, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been a nation riddled with conflict and corruption. To this day, it is a time bomb for conflict posed with the question of “when” instead of “if.” In recent months, the situation in the Congo has worsened as the Rwandan-backed March 23rd Movement (M23) has raged through the eastern part of the country. Support for stabilization in the region is slowly waning, however, recent actions could heighten this. Which direction will the international community take, and can the outlook brighten for the DRC?

Controversy Surrounding MONUSCO

In 2023, the President of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, requested to end MONUSCO (the current peacekeeping mission) via the withdrawal of UN Peacekeepers from his country. This response comes from years of controversy surrounding the presence of peacekeeping in the country.

UN Peacekeepers have been present in the country in some form for over the last 20 years. Conflicts have arisen from the financial costs, lives lost, poor and unethical practices, and the success of the mission.

Financial Burden

Year over year, the mission has been one of, if not the most expensive, of all UN Peacekeeping missions. The approved budget for UN Peacekeeping as a whole for the 2024-25 fiscal year was $5.6 billion. The portion of that budget that will be going towards maintaining MONUSCO is around $918 million (or about 16 percent of the budget). Furthermore, there are almost 14,000 peacekeeping personnel in the Congo currently. However, while this mission has been costly, it has not been successful in addressing the situation in the Congo.

Misconduct and Abuse Allegations

Furthermore, claims have been made regarding the peacekeepers’ poor practices. One of the biggest issues of the MONUSCO mission has been the growth of a black market peacekeeping economy. There is evidence to support that the Peacekeepers in the Congo have sexually exploited women and girls in exchange for material/financial gain. Usually, the targeted audience from Peacekeepers were impoverished women/girls. Furthermore, the Peacekeepers also used food and other survival materials as incentives for these women and girls to commit sex acts. These poor practices, which persist to this day, are another reason the Congolese government wants to rid itself of the MONUSCO mission.

What to do with MONUSCO?

The situation in the Congo is complicated, and MONUSCO is nothing short of a failure. Protests have been held on multiple occasions requesting the removal of UN Peacekeepers. One protest in 2024 even turned deadly, with around 45 people being killed.

Current UN Peacekeeping efforts remain expensive, controversial, and unsuccessful. Some argue the mission has not been aggressive enough, and others want it gone altogether. There is no clear direction, and the UN continues to practically sit on its hands. However, the resurgence of M23 may stem for the withdrawal of MONUSCO. This could, in turn, lead to renewed calls for MONUSCO’s involvement, however, success will only come with effective direction and action.

Resurgence of M23 and Kabila

In 2014, M23 was defeated with the help of UN Peacekeepers. This was seen as a massive success. However, just over a decade later, M23 has resurged as the peacekeeping presence has declined. In early 2025, M23 captured both Goma and Bukavu (capitals of the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces). After this, the DRC and M23 signed a truce in Qatar, however, another factor makes the complicated situation in the Congo even more complex.

In April 2025, former Congolese President Joseph Kabila was spotted in Goma. Kabila was the president of the DRC until a peaceful transfer of power (with the support of MONUSCO) in 2019. Then in 2023, Kabila went into self-imposed exile, however, with his return, tensions have already begun to rise.

While the DRC and M23 are attempting to switch from violence to a dialogue, President Tshisekedi is creating another enemy. Kabila’s party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), was banned in April 2025, based on their attitude toward M23. Furthermore, the DRC is trying to lift Kabila’s legal immunity, due to his title “senator for life.” This is in response to the government’s belief that he is “supporting a rebel insurgency.”

The Situation in the Congo is a Headache

While Tshisekedi tries to ease tensions with M23, he in turn is also raising tensions by accusing Kabila of affiliating with M23. This is a peak summary of the situation in the Congo. While the country attempts to solve one issue, it in turn creates another. There is an estimated 7 million displaced people in the country, making it one of the largest humanitarian crises.

Conditions seem nowhere near improving anytime soon. Even if the DRC government and M23 turn to a dialogue instead of violence, there still remains a plethora of other armed groups and corruption. Some of these groups are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and National Liberation Forces (FNL). These groups further compound the complexity of the situation in the Congo.

On top of all this, the government is one of the most corrupt in the world, and also does not possess a good track record. The international community has struggled to find a solution, due to the vast amount of problems as well as the intensity of action.

As long as armed groups proliferate and the political landscape remains unstable, the DRC will remain in a state of fragile uncertainty. Whether the international community chooses to reinvest in peacekeeping or chart a new path, one thing is clear. Inaction will only prolong the suffering.

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Additional Readings:

Barrera, A. (2015). The Congo trap: MONUSCO islands of stability in the sea of instability. Stability (Norfolk, VA ), 4(1), Art. 52. https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.gn

Fraulin, G., Lee, S., Lusamba, S., & Bartels, S. A. (2021). “It was with my consent since he was providing me with money”: A mixed methods study of adolescent perspectives on peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Conflict and Health, 15(1), 1-80. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-021-00414-0