MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, does indeed have to withdraw at the end of the year or early next year. That's the timeline that has been set. We will see whether it is respected.
It is important to understand that this is part of a broader movement to end major peacekeeping missions in Africa, since the Malian government basically kicked out the blue helmets, and UNAMID, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, came to an end in 2019.
There are now only two major missions left on the continent, that is, missions involving more than 10,000 men. One of these missions is in South Sudan and the other in the Central African Republic.
Both the Mali and the DRC missions are withdrawing at the request of these governments because they were very unhappy with the missions. I will not talk about the mission in Mali because it is a special case. However, with respect to MONUSCO, which was created in 1999, we are now in 2024 and there are currently seven million displaced persons in eastern Congo and about 150 armed groups.
So this is a negative track record. When you look at that record and you look at the cost, which is $1 billion a year, you really get the picture.