We'll explore the impact that ten years of MONUSCO Intervention Brigade had on the protection of civilians in DRC and on peacekeeping.
About the event
In 2013, the UN Security Council created an Intervention Brigade in the framework of its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO. The Intervention Brigade was tasked by the UN Security Council to target and neutralise armed groups in the Eastern part of the DRC, and to promote the stabilisation of the country. Although this was the first offensive unit ever deployed by the UN in the framework of a peacekeeping mission, the UN Security Council affirmed the Intervention Brigade was created on an exceptional basis, had no precedential value, and would not have undermined the established principles of peacekeeping.
After ten years of its continued deployment and active participations in military operations in the DRC, the Intervention Brigade raises a number of important legal issues about how it contributed to the protection of civilians and stabilisation of DRC, and on whether it radically changed the UN approach to peacekeeping. Many doubt that ten years of this experiment can be considered exceptional and with no precedential effect.
This roundtable will discuss some of these questions. Speakers will provide an appraisal both on the work of the Intervention Brigade in DRC (with specific reference to stabilisation, protection of civilians, and protection of women) and on how it has influenced the development of peacekeeping in general.
Additional information
Coffee and tea will be available from 5pm.
How to join the event
This event will take place online and in-person. If you're attending in person, the location is Room 2.05A, 4–12 Little Titchfield Street, Westminster Law School, London, W1W 7BY.
If you would prefer to attend the event online, please select 'online attendance' when signing up on Eventbrite, and you will receive a link to join the event before it begins.
Speakers
Chair: Dr Marco Longobardo (Westminster Law School)
Dr Marco Longobardo is a Reader in International Law at the University of Westminster. He undertook his doctoral studies at the Sapienza University of Rome. He is the author of The Use of Armed Force in Occupied Territory (Cambridge University Press, 2018), for which he was awarded the 2021 Paul Reuter Prize. He is the Reviews Editor of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies and a member of the advisory board of the International Community Law Review.
Dr Jennifer Giblin (Edge Hill University)
Dr Jennifer Giblin is Associate Head of the School of Law, Criminology and Policing at Edge Hill University. She is a member of the International Justice and Human Rights Centre at Edge Hill and her research interests lie in the broad fields of conflict and security law, the United Nations, peacekeeping and post-conflict situations. Jennifer's latest publication is a forthcoming book entitled United Nations Peacekeeping and the Principle of Non-Intervention: A TWAIL Perspective (to be published with Routledge, 2023–24). She has also recently led on a Universities UK funded project as part of the Twin for Hope campaign, which includes co-editing a collection on International Law and the Ukraine Conflict to be published 2024.
Dr Alexander Gilder (University of Reading)
Dr Alexander Gilder is Associate Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Reading and Associate Faculty at the School of Humanitarian Studies, Royal Roads University, Canada. He has published on various aspects of UN peacekeeping including stabilisation, counter-terrorism, the rule of law, the protection of civilians, and security sector reform.
Professor Gina Heathcote (University of Newcastle)
Professor Gina Heathcote is Professor of Public International Law at Newcastle Law School and author the The International Law on the Use of Force: a Feminist Analysis (Routledge 2012) and Feminist Dialogues on International Law: successes, tensions, futures OUP 2019). Gina's previous scholarship engages feminist methodologies, collective security and the use of force, while her forthcoming research offers a feminist analysis of the international law of the sea. Together with Vanja Hamzic, Gina is a series editor of the Routledge Book series on Feminist and Queer International Law.
Dr Sidonia Lucia Kula (SOAS)
Dr Sidonia Lucia Kula is lecturer in law and gender and international lawyer at SOAS, University of London. Her research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to law, borders, gendered violence, and decolonisation. She is a former refugee from Angola and writes on law, gender, conflict, and forced displacement issues within the southern African region. She is the Programme Convenor for the LLM and MA Law and Gender at SOAS. She is part of the management community of the Feminist Centre for Racial Justice at SOAS, and she also consults for other Higher Education institutions in the UK on race equity and decolonising the academy.
Marie-France Nguo (Westminster Law School)
Marie-France Nguo is a second-year PhD Student at the University of Westminster. Her qualitative research focuses on corporate responsibility to respect in conflict, using the case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Marie-France is a human rights school speaker and a country coordinator for West and Central Africa at Amnesty International UK, and she is also a founder of a charity called New Hope for Life, working to empower the African Francophone Community in the UK and re-integration of Street Children in the DRC.
