Bunia, 3 June 2013 – In Bunia, Ituri district, the Public Information section of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), in collaboration with the Government's Gender, Family and Children Office, held a meeting with local Women's associations to inform them and increase their awareness of MONUSCO's new mandate.

The meeting was a first step in a campaign to promote public awareness about the UN mission's new mandate, a campaign designed to reach all civil society components, including students, religious groups and youth associations across the territories of Ituri district, in order to bring everybody up to the same level of information.

The first women beneficiaries of this training will be expected to share their knowledge with other women of their communities when they return home.

The participating women were hopeful that the current deployment of the new Force Intervention Brigade within MONUSCO, as decided by the United Nations Security Council, would help bring an end to the activities of the armed groups and militias operating in some territories of the Ituri district, thus enabling women to move around without being threatened.

Amadou Maiga/MONUSCO