On 3 June 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year term starting on 1 January 2026. As part of the bilateral cooperation between the DRC and Belgium, the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation offered to support the DRC in preparing for this prestigious mandate.
After having served six times on the UNSC as a non-permanent member in 2019-2020, Belgium offered to share its experience in order to contribute to the DRC’s preparation in view of its new mandate. A two-week exchange of expertise was therefore organized by the Egmont Institute from August 25 to September 5, 2025, for eight Congolese diplomats, the majority of whom joined the Permanent Mission of the DRC in New York.
This activity had the following objectives: (1) To strengthen the key skills of diplomats called upon to work in the UNSC; (2) To deepen knowledge on priority issues on the Security Council’s agenda and of particular interest to the DRC; (3) To foster a better understanding of the functioning and mechanisms of the UNSC and; (4) To share Belgium’s experience with the diplomats concerned.
The sessions organized as part of this exchange were delivered by a wide range of experts including United Nations staff (based in New York, Geneva, Brussels and Addis Ababa) and Belgian experts several who took part directly in the Belgian mandate at the UNSC in 2019-2020. A former American diplomat specializing in negotiation has also been recruited by the Egmont Institute. This activity was very well evaluated and offered real networking opportunities for the participants.
