MONUSCO in partnership with the local press organizes the second edition of a press forum in Dungu

15 juil 2015

MONUSCO in partnership with the local press organizes the second edition of a press forum in Dungu

Dungu – Saturday, 11 July 2015: Dungu HQ hosted the second edition of the press forum initiated by MONUSCO PID in partnership with the local press around the topic: "What civil society for Dungu?" Guest: Mr. Mbikobado Wami Jacques, civil society coordinator. The meeting was attended by political and administrative officials, MONUSCO officials, civil society members, students and members of the local press.

The civil society coordinator, assisted by his Secretary Gbafula Dieudonné divided his presentation into three main sections:
· Concept of civil society
· Context of Dungu
· What civil society for Dungu?

It is worth noting that the concept of civil society goes back to 2000 years before Jesus Christ…Civil society "is any social-based organizations whose objective is not to conquer political or economic power, but rather to defend the interests of the population".

With regard to DR Congo, the audience was informed that the texts governing the civil society goes back to the colonial era, providing legitimacy to civil society organizations to empower them to act as a key and full-fledged entity to the life of the country.

The roles assigned to civil society organizations include, inter alia: to act as " a counterbalance to the power and leadership and as ambassadors for the population’s welfare as well as the restoration of the rule of law in the DRC".

About the locality of Dungu, the civil society coordinator highlighted the special feature of this area which unlike DRC’s territories, came under several "aggressions", mainly from the LRA and Mbororos…

"If we can see the road in Dungu, said the civil society coordinator, it is because of war, which brought MONUSCO to settle here"…and concluded "our mission is sacred, it is divine, we interact with the grassroots, we can witness the dynamism and active participation of a civil society keen to see the emergence of the country….".

The ensuing brainstorming insisted on the need for an emergence of a pro-development civil society; civil society leaders in Dungu deplored that the local civil society organizations focus more on political and administrative matters to the detriment of development and other aspects of the society such as education, sanitation etc...

It is high time to bring together all the components of the society in Dungu, including the non-native officials, to bring appropriate solutions to the problems.

The civil society coordinator was in favor of such an initiative: “it was indeed an interesting meeting, we should make of this forum, more than a framework for exchanges, a real force able to come up with concrete proposals in Dungu; this is already taking shape as it can be seen in the ever-increasing interest shown by the population”.

This marked the end of the second edition of the press forum.

Alain Coulibaly