Uvira, 22 April 2015 – A real pedagogic day organized on Wednesday 22 April 2015 for 41 female students and pre-finalists students (5th year secondary school) of the high school Umoja Uvira in the South Kivu province at the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC MONUSCO/Uvira.

The purpose of the “informative session” was to update the high school students on the activities of the United Nations Organization (UN) Mission from the inception to date in order to promote peace and development across the world. The initiative was hailed by the Chief of MONUSCO-Uvira sub-office, Ould Mohamed Abdellahi who thanked the delegations for showing special interest in the United Nations’ activities; delegates were invited take their studies seriously in order to be able to serve the UN in a near future.

For three hours on end, they listened to a presentation on the United Nations system: key Organs, Departments and Offices, subsidiary Organs as well as the difference between the Funds, Programs, specialized Institutions, etc. After the briefing, students asked many questions, including those relating to the UN future, the major challenges facing the world body, the mode of designation of the United Nations Secretary-Generals (selections, designations or election?)…

At the end of the exchanges, in a convivial atmosphere, the students were given an assignment: to respond to a commonly asked question: UN, 70 years after its creation, failure or success? Then the students were given presents (T-shirts, loincloths with MONUSCO’s effigy…); they also received the UN Charter, the UN organizational chart as well as brochures, pamphlets and magazines produced by MONUSCO.

All of then expressed, with one voice, their joy and gratitude to the Public Information Section of MONUSCO-Uvira in particular and to the United Nations in general, for this opportunity that “helped them to get more familiarized with the UN; before the informative session, there were lots of grey areas, some classmates used to believe that HCR was a Mission like MONUSCO, that MONUSCO was established with a view to intervening in any country affected by war”, said with a smile on the lips, some participants at the end of the meeting.

Jean-Tobie Okala