Security Council Crisis Simulation on the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kelsey Chidley

The Security Council made progress on a presidential statement and two resolutions during the crisis simulation on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “It’s more about what we can do than what we can say to make the citizens believe that the Security Council is here to help civilians,” said Representative Natalie Worcester of Kuwait. The presidential statement focused on condemnation of firing against Congolese refugees by Rwandan officials. Congolese refugees fleeing the threat of the Ebola virus were met by military action in Rwanda, and the Council debated the ethics of this; the presidential statement would call for international discouragement of further military action against Congolese refugees fleeing the threat of Ebola. While several countries expressed their dissatisfaction with the violence, some countries such as Poland and Kazakhstan communicated their understanding of the need to contain the Ebola virus. Draft resolutions took two different routes in the Council: one focuses on short term strategies to contain the virus, while the other details possible ways to deal with the effects of the Ebola virus in the long term. Member States discussed the logistics of containing the virus through strategies such as quarantine. The Council also brought in an expert from the World Health Organization to speak on the importance of containing the extremely dangerous virus. Representative Dr. Matthew called Ebola “the single most dangerous disease humanity has faced throughout its entire history.”