The Security Council today extended and expanded the arms embargo and related sanctions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have been in place since 2003, for another year.

Council members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution continuing the regime of sanctions, which consists of an arms embargo against all armed groups that are not part of either the Government’s integrated army (known as the FARDC) or police units, through 30 November next year.

The 15-member panel also extended the mandate of the Group of Experts dealing with the DRC for the same period, and expanded its remit to include the creation of recommendations on due diligence guidelines for the buying and processing of lucrative mineral products in the troubled African country.

The Group of Experts has been asked to focus its activities on North and South Kivu, Ituri and Orientale provinces in the east of the country, which remains plagued by fighting and unrest since the end of the DRC’s brutal civil war earlier this decade.

The mandate of the Council subcommittee dealing with the DRC has also been expanded to take account of changing notification requirements for UN Member States complying with the embargo and sanctions.