Swiss president promises to work for conflict victims during Congo visit

Swiss President Alain Berset met on Thursday with Congolese President Felix Tshisikedi. Keystone / Béatrice Devènes

Swiss President Alain Berset has promised in Kinshasa to work for the civilian victims of conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“We want to focus attention on those who are the first victims” of insecurity, Berset said on Thursday at a joint press conference with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi.

This comes as Switzerland is due to chair the UN Security Council next month, having become a non-permanent member for the first time at the start of this year. Berset said Switzerland is sitting on the Council “with the approach that we know, the commitment to peace, peace processes, mediation and dialogue”.

+ Read about Switzerland’s seat on the UN Security Council

The Swiss president has been in the DRC since Wednesday. He held talks with Tshisikedi in the capital on Thursday. According to a government press releaseExternal link, topics of discussion were to include bilateral relations and the UN mission for Stabilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), to which Switzerland contributes police forces and de-miners.

Berset’s visit includes travelling to the conflict-torn east. His meetings are scheduled to include one with Denis Mukwege, the Nobel Prize winning doctor specialised in treating rape victims in the eastern DRC. He is to visit camps for displaced people in Goma, capital of North Kivu province, where the M23 rebellion has displaced hundreds of thousands of people since the end of 2021.

Berset will chair a UN Security Council meeting in mid-May on protection of civilians in conflict zones, according to the press release. After the presidential visit to Mozambique in February, Berset’s visit to the DRC is the second to take place in this context.