The Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to start the withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping force from Congo before the end of the year as the conflict-ridden country prepares to elect its next president on Wednesday.
The resolution adopted by the U.N.’s most powerful body orders “the gradual, responsible and sustainable withdrawal” of the peacekeeping mission, known as MONUSCO, starting in South Kivu in eastern Congo, and the gradual handover of its responsibilities to the Congolese government.
