UN warns illicit mineral trade funds armed groups in DR Congo

The United Nations Security Council has been warned that illicit mineral trafficking in the Great Lakes region is providing ongoing funding for armed groups. Juan Xia, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, highlighted that competition over natural resources is deeply intertwined with insecurity and regional tensions in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

To combat this, regional ministers from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have endorsed recommendations to strengthen controls over natural resource exploitation. These efforts aim to improve transparency, traceability, and accountability within mineral value chains through regional certification mechanisms.

While diplomatic efforts regarding the disarmament of groups like the FDLR and the work of the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus have shown some progress, the security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC continues to deteriorate due to ongoing hostilities and growing regional tensions.