Uvira, South-Kivu - Monday, 16th October 2017: To update the population on MONUSCO’s stabilization efforts in line with its mandate, Public Information office organized an informative visit for about twenty journalists to Bukavu and Uvira to receive first-hand information about the ex-combatants’ reintegration project. They were delighted to note the impact of the project through the contacts they had with beneficiaries on the ground.

Kala project implemented in the outskirts of Uvira in a rehabilitated old rice growing site, employs about a hundred ex-combatants and their dependents who engage in agriculture and cattle breeding. They grow rice and sweet potatoes, they do fish farming, they effectively use seedlings and know how to care for them; they have also learnt how to set up an irrigation system and to organize themselves in cooperatives to be able to run the production chain.

With MONUSCO’s support, through community violence reduction CVR, the ex-combatants are proud to start a new life by being more useful to their communities through the project known as Kala peace. With their dependents’ support, they divide tasks and assign everyone’s role. To mentor and accompany the operators, the project benefits from the expertise of Caritas Uvira through counselling technicians.

After 6 months’ implementation, the Kala peace project shall, at the end of the day, benefit the entire host community, more particularly vulnerable persons. In addition to the generated jobs, the project helped restore ex-combatants’ dignity and restore confidence and hope by shaping up new images of their respective communities through lifting out of the cycle of poverty.

To the overall tune of US$ 71,000, the Kala peace project today spans over an extensible 10-hectare surface areas and is a good example to be remembered long and which will doubtless bring those still hesitant to leave the bush for a stable and dignified life.

Bilamekaso Tchagbele