Photo: Clara Padovan/MONUSCO

Goma, 19 September 2011 - "I can assure you that everything is in place to provide security for the upcoming elections," the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Roger Meece, said shortly after arriving in Goma on 19 September.

Mr. Meece was from the Zambian city of Ndola, where the plane of the late UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold's crashed on 18 September 1961. Mr. Meece had joined the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt who had gone there to mark the 50th anniversary of the crash.

On the purpose of his visit to Nord-Kivu, Mr. Meece said he was there to discuss with the local administrative, political and military authorities on security plans for the elections. He further indicated that the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) will, in accordance with its mandate, continue to provide logistical support to the Congolese authorities for the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections. "I will brief Congolese authorities as well as MONUSCO's staff on what we could do in terms of security for the elections," he said.

In the context of the electoral process, MONUSCO is providing logistical, technical and military support. As part of this logistical support, the Mission has been transporting and will continue to transport electoral materials from the entry point in the country to hubs and sub-hubs. Technical support is provided, on the one hand, through a series of training courses that the Mission has been organizing for the Congolese National Police (PNC) and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC). On the other hand, the Force ensures the physical protection of civilians across the country through the security umbrella which has been put in place. This week the Force Commander, General Chander Prakash, visited Sud-Kivu to put the finishing touches to a contingency plan prepared in the context of the elections.

Alexandre Essome/ MONUSCO