The Linguist

8 The Linguist Vol/61 No/5 thelinguist.uberflip.com FEATURES (the official language) and Lingala (the lingua franca of northwestern DRC), aimed at encouraging women, in particular, to participate in the electoral process. I was already a fan of Congolese art, music and literature, but had to fill in some historical gaps. I read books such as Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost: A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa and immersed myself in analyses of the rapidly evolving situation on the ground. I couldn't imagine living and working in such a complex and challenging environment without, at the very least, speaking French and having a basic understanding of Congolese history. It wasn't until I relocated to eastern Congo a few years later, to work as a Civil Affairs Coordinator for MONUSCO's South Kivu office, that I realised just how strained the relationship was between the Congolese government and the mission. This had a knock-on effect on MONUSCO South Kivu's relationship with local authorities and communities. Misunderstandings surrounding MONUSCO's presence in the DRC were often exploited by armed groups to incite violence against the peacekeepers, especially in remote and inaccessible parts of the province. CIVIL AFFAIRS OFFICERS Civil Affairs Officers are civilian peacekeepers who play a key role in UN peacekeeping operations mainly focused on protecting civilians, preventing and managing local conflicts, and supporting the restoration of State authority in conflict-affected areas. They usually work alongside troops in the field, where they act as a bridge between the peacekeeping mission and local communities. They are often required to coordinate and facilitate the field visits of other UN actors, such as the UN Refugee Agency, as well as local and international humanitarian aid organisations. As a Civil Affairs Coordinator, I also worked at a provincial level and was often required to provide visiting delegations from UN HQ in New York with French/English interpretation services during meetings with provincial government authorities, the UN Country Team, civil society organisations, and local and international journalists. The ability to communicate in local languages is an essential part of Civil Affairs Officers' work. Without their linguistic support, field-based troops, who are often accused of barricading themselves in their barracks during attacks by armed groups, struggle to fulfil their protection of civilians mandate. One problem is the ambiguity surrounding the interpretation and implementation of MONUSCO's mandate. The preamble states that the Congolese government is primarily responsible for protecting civilians within its borders. So although the government agreed to host MONUSCO, it continues to scapegoat the mission to disguise its own failure to protect civilians caught up in violent conflict. Language barriers make it hard to counter mis-/disinformation spread by hostile armed groups and authorities, especially in remote parts of the country. In South Kivu's Shabunda territory, for example, heavily armed elements stormed a humanitarian coordination meeting in August 2011 looking for peacekeepers who they suspected of spying. A month later they abducted and seriously assaulted an Electoral Commission employee in Tchombi in the mistaken belief that he was a MONUSCO peacekeeper. In an effort to promote a greater understanding of MONUSCO's mandate, and stop the spread of fake news, South Kivu's field-based Civil Affairs Officers took to explaining parts of it in Swahili – the most © SHUTTERSTOCK/RYAN BOEDI

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