Bukavu, 15 February 2011 – Two hundred and sixty members of the Congolese Police (PNC) have received training on good governance and techniques for securing elections in South Kivu. The five-day training, which started on 10 February, was initiated by the UN Police (UNPOL), and was done simultaneously, in Kavumu and Walungu, both near the provincial capital of Bukavu. This program is the second in a series scheduled to take place in all eight…
Bukavu, 5 February 2011 – The Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Major-General Adrian J. Foster, visited the South Kivu Brigade Area of Responsibility from 4 to 8 February 2011. The visit took the Deputy Force Commander to Fizi where dozens of women were raped on the night of January 1 and 2. He met with the rape victims, local dignitaries, and elements of the…
New York, 7 February 2011 - Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Council, 1. It is my honor to appear before you today in association with the second report presented by the Secretary-General since the adoption of Resolution 1925. I am pleased to note progress in several significant areas of MONUSCO's mandate, but also note continuing concerns and issues, particularly in regard to the situation in eastern DRC, as was reflected in the…
Goma, 10 February 2011 – In a goodwill gesture, the Indian Battalion deployed in North Kivu offered wheelchairs to a group of physically challenged people in Goma and its surroundings. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Force Commander, Lt General Chander Prakash, the North Kivu Brigade Commander, Brigadier General C. P. Mohanty, as well as other high ranking officers of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the…
Bukavu, 10 February 2011 - The South-Kivu military court started a public hearing on Thursday, 10 February 2011 in Baraka, 35 km from Fizi and 260 km south-west of Bukavu for the eleven soldiers of the Congolese Army, indicted for crime against humanity for alleged rape, forced imprisonment and assaults on civilians, as well as other degrading treatments and acts of terrorism committed in the night of 1st and 2nd January 2011 in Fizi. The public…
Kinshasa, 10 February 2011 – A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on February 10 will pave the way for rehabilitation works on roads which were halted because of the risks posed by land mines and other unexploded ordinance (UXOs). The MOU between the Ministry of Infrastructure, Public Works and Reconstruction and the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre in the DR Congo (UNMACC-DRC) will enable the centre assist in demining the…
Goma, 2 February 2011 – The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) Police Chief has announced plans to launch new training projects for Congolese police officers, under UNPOL supervision. General Police Inspector, Wafy Abdallah, made the announcement during his five-day working visit to the sectors of Kisangani, Goma and Bunia, which he started on 31 January, 2010 and ended on 4 February, 2011. General Wafy, who was…
Goma, 03 February 2011 - Last year 1881 rebel combatants from the militia group known as the FDLR - the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda - opted for voluntary surrender and disarmament to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO. Today the FDLR combatants number approximately 2500, down 60 percent from an estimated 6000 two years ago. The rebels are located in the eastern provinces of…
Goma, 03 February 2011 - Last year 1881 rebel combatants from the militia group known as the FDLR - the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda - opted for voluntary surrender and disarmament to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO. Today the FDLR combatants number approximately 2500, down 60 percent from an estimated 6000 two years ago. The rebels are located in the eastern provinces of…
New York, 4 February 2011 - Rape victims from Songo Mboyo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were presented with a boat as a gesture of solidarity from the United Nations on Monday, 7 February, in Mbandaka, DRC. The boat will be used by the women to transport goods to the market in support of their income-generating activities. More than 100 women from Songo Mboyo, a remote village in the Equateur Province, were victims of a mass rape…