175 peacekeepers from the Nepalese Engineering Company (NEC) received UN Medals on 3rd July 2020 for their services rendered to MONUSCO. The medal award ceremony was chaired by the North Sector Commander of the UN Force in Ituri, General Ali.

Those Nepalese Engineers have been performing multiple tasks and projects in support of MONUSCO’s mandate since 2003 in the Ituri Province.

They have rehabilitated more than 2650 kms roads so far in different parts of the DRC, mostly in Ituri Province.

Since the beginning of the current year, the numerous projects undertaken in the Province include:

• the construction/rehabilitation of the DDR sites at Kazana and Karatsi in the Walendu Bindi Chiefdom in the Irumu territory,
• the rehabilitation of Sona and Mwanga Bridges in the Bunia outskirt,
• the rehabilitation of Bogoro-Kasiyani Road, 
• the extension of the IDPs Camp in Kigonze, Bunia,
• the construction of a gutter to drain rainwaters and the construction of a drinking water outlet at the Sangara Primary School in Bunia, etc.

« I feel very honored to receive the UN medal for the stabilization and the peacekeeping in the DRC. I’m proud to receive this medal as part of the reward and motivation for all the Nepalese peacekeepers for the successful completion of their tenure and successful completion of the tasks as mandated by Monusco”, said Major Prakash Khadka, the Deputy Unit commander of the Nepalese Engineering Company who received this UN Medal for the third time.

All of NEC’s contributions to stabilizing Ituri are appreciated by the local people. They allow, among other things, the facilitation of the movements of the civilian populations selling their farmland products as well as the Congolese security forces and MONUSCO troops conducting operations designed to track down militiamen.

The Nepalese contingent’s support has helped improve security in some parts of the Province where, for example, erosions threatened to cut the road in half, endangering the lives of civilians. Drinking water supplied to more than a thousand students in Bunia and local residents also helps prevent some water-borne diseases.

The populations of South Irumu had already welcomed the Nepalese peacekeepers’ contribution to the return of peace in their entity on May 12, 2020 during the handover by MONUSCO of two sites for the disarmament and demobilization of the FRPI militiamen.

"We are now convinced of the happy outcome of the peace process, after several failed attempts in the past. May we seize this opportunity to express our joy by thanking Monusco for its actions aimed at restoring lasting peace to the south of Irumu", said a young man born during the protracted conflict pitting the FRPI militia against the Congolese state.