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seems like a role of UN troops to maintain peace so that WHO workers can do their jobs

ars 7y ago
That's not a good way to gain the trust of the local population. I don't have an answer for what should be done, but I can tell you that your suggestion is not it.
duxup 7y ago
Problem is you need the locals to cooperate, not just comply for a short period of time due to force. I suspect mass use of force would work (let's just assume we had unlimited troops or something crazy).... but only for a while. For a health situation like this you need buy in from the locals to change how they handle things longer term or it might pop up again.
_djo_ 7y ago
That is part of what the UN troops are attempting to do, but it's an impossibly difficult task. There are far too few troops for the size of the area and population size they need to defend, and that's before you take into account issues like logistics, the unwillingness of some national contingents to deploy far from bases, etc. To provide some context, just the eastern provinces of the DRC, where most of the violence is concentrated, have a population of more than 20 million people and a land area larger than Germany. The UN mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has just 15 000 troops. A figure which shrinks annually as a result of US-forced budget cuts. Those budget cuts (which the Trump administration has loudly boasted about, FWIW) have also severely depleted the aviation budget, preventing MONUSCO from being able to deploy as many attack helicopters as its commanders say it needs to go after armed groups and reducing its ability to transport troops by air. This forces them to take long, slow journeys on the country's dilapidated road network, even in cases of urgent responses. During the rainy season it can take hours to travel a few kilometres despite having specialised vehicles. Add to that the fact that government troops are often corrupt and local commanders can be in league with some of the rebel groups, and it's a pretty difficult mission at the best of times.

ars 7y ago

That's not a good way to gain the trust of the local population. I don't have an answer for what should be done, but I can tell you that your suggestion is not it.

duxup 7y ago

Problem is you need the locals to cooperate, not just comply for a short period of time due to force. I suspect mass use of force would work (let's just assume we had unlimited troops or something crazy).... but only for a while. For a health situation like this you need buy in from the locals to change how they handle things longer term or it might pop up again.

_djo_ 7y ago

That is part of what the UN troops are attempting to do, but it's an impossibly difficult task. There are far too few troops for the size of the area and population size they need to defend, and that's before you take into account issues like logistics, the unwillingness of some national contingents to deploy far from bases, etc. To provide some context, just the eastern provinces of the DRC, where most of the violence is concentrated, have a population of more than 20 million people and a land area larger than Germany. The UN mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has just 15 000 troops. A figure which shrinks annually as a result of US-forced budget cuts. Those budget cuts (which the Trump administration has loudly boasted about, FWIW) have also severely depleted the aviation budget, preventing MONUSCO from being able to deploy as many attack helicopters as its commanders say it needs to go after armed groups and reducing its ability to transport troops by air. This forces them to take long, slow journeys on the country's dilapidated road network, even in cases of urgent responses. During the rainy season it can take hours to travel a few kilometres despite having specialised vehicles. Add to that the fact that government troops are often corrupt and local commanders can be in league with some of the rebel groups, and it's a pretty difficult mission at the best of times.