‘Peace remains only a promise’ for millions in eastern DR Congo, General Assembly hears

Against a backdrop of decades of violent insecurity and mass displacement in the resource-rich eastern region of the vast country – where a deadly Ebola outbreak is also spreading – Judith Suminwa insisted on Wednesday that few other situations “illustrate so painfully the gap between international commitments and [people’s] lived reality”. 

“We cannot build a decarbonized economy through blood-stained minerals,” she said. “And we will not bring about a just transition by reproducing a greenwashed version of our past dependencies.” 

Speaking to leaders gathered at UN headquarters in New York, she maintained that the DRC “continues to face a war of aggression led by Rwanda through its proxy the AFC/M23” (Alliance Fleuve Congo/M23 Movement). Other armed groups, particularly the Allied Defense Forces (ADF) and CODECO are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. 

Elusive peace 

The Prime Minister pointed to several developments that have opened up prospects for an end to violence, such as the peace agreement signed in Washington, DC, in June 2025, between the DRC and Rwanda. 

She noted, however, that “for millions of Congolese, this peace remains only a promise”.  

She said UN Security Resolution 2773 (2025) “has laid out an unambiguous path” in its call for an effective cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory and restoration of State authority, among other measures. 

“But we don’t need new texts to replace those that have already been adopted,” she said. 

Repatriation of FDLR fighters 

Ms. Suminwa also addressed issues surrounding the Democratic Forces for the Freedom of Rwanda (FDLR), a largely ethnic Hutu armed group, recalling that a protocol signed in May provides for the disarmament and demobilization of its combatants.  

Earlier this month, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, supported the repatriation of 120 people associated with the group, which she called “a first testament to the protocol’s implementation”. 

A just transition and jobs

The Prime Minister pointed to rising demand for copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals, including to power the energy transition and expansion of digital and AI infrastructure. 

She said the DRC is at the heart of the transition, being the largest global producer of cobalt – used in making lithium batteries and digital equipment, for example – and a major producer of copper.

“It would be both unjust and dangerous for added value, jobs, know-how, and technologies to remain concentrated far away from the communities that are making these changes possible,” she warned.

She said that the DRC “rejects the old model that limits producer countries to crude extraction while processing, research, technology, and the bulk of the profits are concentrated elsewhere”. 

Going forward, the country wants to join African and international partners to build “competitive regional businesses that create jobs, skills, and shared prosperity”.