The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO (previously known as United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo or MONUC, French: Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) of the United Nations Security Council to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo conflict.
The initial UN presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the passing of Resolution 1291, was a force of military observers to observe and report on the compliance on factions with the peace accords, a deployment authorised by the earlier Resolution 1258 (1999).
Since 1999, about US$ 8.73 billion have been spent to fund the UN peacekeeping effort in DRC. As of June 2010, the total strength of UN peacekeeping troops in DRC exceed 20,000. More than thirty nations have contributed military and police personnel for peacekeeping effort, with India being the single largest contributor. In June 2011, it was reported that India is preparing to gradually scale back its military commitment to MONUSCO.
Read more about United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo: Organization, Controversies
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