DRC Launches UN Initiative to Tackle Conflict Minerals

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has launched a new diplomatic initiative at the United Nations aimed at closing international legal and regulatory gaps that allow the illegal exploitation of natural resources to finance armed conflict.

On July 13, the DRC convened an informal UN Security Council meeting titled “The Normative Gaps Linking Natural Resources and Peace: Foundations and Perspectives.” The discussion was chaired by Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and brought together UN member states, regional organizations, civil society, academics and private-sector representatives.

Why the DRC Called the Meeting

The DRC argues that natural resources should support development, industrialization and shared prosperity. Instead, in many conflict zones, minerals are illegally extracted, trafficked and taxed to finance armed groups and prolong violence.

The Congolese concept note warned that global demand for critical minerals is expected to increase sharply as countries expand clean-energy technologies, digital infrastructure, electronics, defence and aerospace production.

It also argued that current international mechanisms remain fragmented and are not sufficiently coordinated to stop illegal mineral trading.

Existing initiatives include the Kimberley Process, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the OECD’s responsible mineral supply-chain guidance. However, the DRC believes these systems do not yet form a strong and unified framework capable of addressing the links between resource trafficking, armed groups and insecurity.

Congo’s Experience Shapes the Initiative

The DRC holds some of the world’s most important reserves of cobalt, copper, coltan, tin and other minerals needed for modern technology and the global energy transition.

At the same time, illegal mining and cross-border mineral trafficking have long contributed to conflict in the country’s eastern provinces. Armed groups have generated income through control of mining areas, taxation of production and trade routes, while minerals extracted from conflict zones have entered regional and international supply chains.

Kinshasa wants the international community to move beyond treating resource exploitation only as a country-specific problem.

Its initiative seeks a wider global system that could improve traceability, strengthen enforcement, and prevent companies or armed networks from benefiting from minerals linked to violence.

DRC Considers a New UN Framework

The meeting was designed to assess whether a more harmonized international framework is politically and operationally possible.

Possible outcomes could include a future thematic debate, a UN Security Council resolution, or another formal Council document addressing natural-resource governance and conflict.

DRC Ambassador to the UN Zénon Mukongo Ngay has said the July meetings could help shape discussions on a possible standalone Security Council product on natural-resource governance.

The DRC also intends to circulate a chair’s summary reflecting the views and recommendations presented during the Arria-formula meeting.

Tshisekedi to Chair High-Level Debate

The July 13 discussion is expected to help prepare a high-level UN Security Council debate scheduled for July 22.

President Félix Tshisekedi is expected to chair that meeting under the theme “Natural Resource Governance: The Foundation of Peace, Security and Prosperity.”

It is one of the DRC’s main events during its July presidency of the Security Council.

Through both meetings, the DRC is seeking to build international support for stronger rules that ensure critical minerals contribute to development instead of financing armed groups, displacement and instability.

A Difficult Diplomatic Debate

Security Council members broadly recognize that illegal natural-resource exploitation can finance armed groups and prolong conflict.

However, some governments may resist the creation of a new global framework, arguing that existing national, regional and international mechanisms should be strengthened instead.

The Security Council has not adopted a standalone thematic document focused exclusively on natural resources and conflict since 2007, although later resolutions and presidential statements have addressed the issue in specific regional and peacekeeping contexts.

The DRC’s initiative therefore represents an effort to return the issue to the centre of global peace and security discussions.

For Kinshasa, the objective is clear: countries producing the minerals that power the modern economy should not continue paying for that global demand through war, illegal trafficking and the suffering of their communities.

Source

Security Council Report, “Arria-formula Meeting on Natural Resources,” published July 10, 2026