Kisangani, 19 March 2011 – The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in DRC, Mr. Roger Meece and the Congolese Minister for Defense and war veterans, Mr. Charles Mwando Nsimba visited Eastern DRC between 18 and 19 March to assess the security situation and see for themselves the military defense and public security systems in place.

The chief of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) used the opportunity to inaugurate several Quick Impact projects in the region. The trips to Dungu, Faradje, Bunia and Kisangani constituted a major chunk of their visit to the Eastern Province which shares borders with the Central African Republic, Sudan and Uganda.

At Dungu, they met with local administrative officials and representatives of civil society organizations. Most of their interlocutors spoke of a worrying security situation characterized by repeated attacks from elements suspected to belong to the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Reports from the humanitarian community in Dungu said that 25 attacks were recorded in the month of February alone resulting in eleven deaths. During the same period 52 people were abducted and 19 injured. Twenty eight of those abducted were children. The same report said an equal number of deaths occurred during 14 attacks by March 17. Twelve people were kidnapped and four injured.

At Faradje, 147 km north-east of Dungu, local authorities not only voiced great concerns over repeated attacks by suspected LRA elements, they also highlighted the sporadic character of the raids conducted by "residual" elements of other Ugandan armed groups.

In Bunia, the administrative capital of Ituri district, Mr. Meece inaugurated the newly-built $13,273 prison for female inmates through MONUSCO's Quick Impact Project funds. This prison block is meant to accommodate ten inmates.
Along with the Minister, the MONUSCO chief also inaugurated the new headquarters of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) at camp Tchere, which was rehabilitated through the UN Development Programme (UNDP), with funds from donors. Furthermore, he inaugurated the newly-graded road section linking Camp Ndromo (MONUSCO military base) and Camp Tchere.

On Saturday 19 March, they travelled to Kisangani, where they first visited Lukusa military training camp which has been under rehabilitation by the International Office for Migration IOM since November 2010. The rehabilitation of the camp followed an official request on 14 April 2010 by the DRC Defense Ministry to the then UN Mission MONUC. The center is situated on the left bank of the River Congo, in the commune of Lubunga. It serves as an intermingling center for ex-combatants of various rebel groups in the DRC, before they are integrated into the regular army.
Shortly before returning to Kinshasa, the delegation visited camp Base 10 km east of Kisangani, where some 800 troops are deployed. The camp serves as a training centre for rapid reaction units.

Before their visit to the province Mr. Meece was first in Kigali where he met with both the Defense and Foreign Affairs Ministers of Rwanda for discussions on regional security. He was then joined by the Congolese Defense Minister is Kasese, Uganda where they discussed issues of common interest.