Kinshasa, 26 July 2010 - A military ceremony was held this morning at 8 a.m. at MONUC headquarters in Kinshasa, to welcome Roger A. Meece, the new Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). Roger A. Meece formally took office on 11 July 2010 in New York where he began his new functions through contacts and meetings with senior UN officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Addressing the Mission Senior Management Group (SMG) after the ceremony, Meece said his immediate priorities were: "to meet and establish contacts with the authorities of the country and also to acquaint himself with the realities of the Mission through internal meetings at all levels."

Roger A. Meece, a U.S. citizen is familiar with Africa and with the DRC in particular where he served as US Ambassador from 2004 to 2007, after his three years as Deputy Ambassador from 1995 to 1998. He succeeds Alan Doss, of the United Kingdom, whose term of office expired at the end of June 2010.