Generals, Diplomats and Civilians: Snapshots from Congo

October 30, 2013 | Pulitzer Center

Jon Sawyer

Gen. James Mwakiibolwa of Tanzania, front center, commander of MONUSCO's Force Intervention Brigade, with fellow officers outside Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Troops with the UN MONUSCO peacekeeping force on patrol north of Goma. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Lt. Col. Bhanish Sharma, front center, commander of the MONUSCO forward operating base in Masisi, prepares to take his troops out on patrol. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

UN troops towing one of their vehicles out of ditch, on patrol outside Masisi in the mountains west of Goma. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Gen. Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, commander of the MONUSCO peacekeeping force in the DRC, briefing members of the UN Security Council and journalists in early October on the frontlines of Congo's battle with the militia group M23. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Soldiers of Congolese Federal Army (FARDC) standing guard in hills north of Goma during visit by representatives to the UN Security Council. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. representative to the United Nations, listening to concerns of residents at Mugunga camp for displaced persons in Goma. Image by Jon Sawyer. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Women residents of the Mugunga camp for displaced persons in Goma voice their concerns, and hope for peace, to visiting members of the UN Security Council. Image by Jon Sawyer, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

On October 6, 2013, representatives of the UN Security Council made a field trip to Goma, DRC, site of the biggest, most expensive UN peacekeeping mission in the world and the center of one of the world's most protracted conflicts. The Security Council representatives, among them U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, met with residents at the Mugunga camp for displaced persons. They also toured the front lines of Congo's battle against the M23, a militia group that according to the UN and U.S. is backed by the government of neighboring Rwanda. They were briefed there by the officers leading the UN and Congolese forces. Portraits from the day, and also from a UN forward operating base at Masisi.