1. At CONGO

2. CONGO  Located in the central part of Africa  It is the third largest country in Africa  Almost twice the population of Canada

3. What happened?  The Belgian government became under a lot of pressure to allow Congo to become a self governing state.  In 1960, Belgian gave Congo their independence but only gave them 5 months to prepare for independence even though it was evident that they were not ready.  The army rebelled against the remaining white officers that led the Congolese army

4. Canadians in the Congo  The UN responded by sending their largest deployment ever of 1,894 men to Congo.  The UN was only allowed to use force as self defense and they were not allowed to take sides.  The UN was not making a very big difference, so the security council granted permission for them to use force to prevent a civil war from occurring.  Canadians helped to maintain it’s law and order during these wars.  Canada contributed 9 military observers  MONUC a force of peacekeepers have kept a presence in this country for many years.  They have provided nearly 17,000 troops from more than 12 different countries around the world.

5. Was it a success?  The UN managed to achieve its 4 goals: - A civil war was prevented - Russia was kept out of Africa - The Congo was kept as a whole by the end of 1963 - Political stability was achieved  However, the UN was almost pushed to bankruptcy because Russia, France and Belgium were unwilling to pay their part of the cost that of the Congo operation.  Overall, the United Nations was successful in keeping the peace in the Congo.

6. The end of the Congo crisis  In 2002, the conflict was officially resolved with a peace deal.  The Congo crisis is known as one of the biggest united nations missions ever.