Mbuji-Mayi, 17 June 2013 – The United Nations Joint Office in Western Kasai, in collaboration with the provincial Planning Ministry and the National Youth Council, organized a series of conferences in the provincial capital, Mbuji-Mayi, to make local young people aware of the new configuration of the United Nations in this province. The conferences were aimed at young members of political parties, members of the Provincial Youth Council, and students of the Mbuji-Mayi Official University and the Higher Pedagogical Institute.

The participants were given detailed information on the United Nations' intervention plan with its five strategic axes for supporting the key provincial priorities, which include: improving basic social services, reviving agricultural production, improving local governance, conflict management, and provincial development coordination.

Since last September, when the UN Joint Office was established in Western Kasai, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) and UN agencies have been working under the leadership of a provincial coordinator for the implementation of a plan developed in consultation provincial authorities to support peace consolidation and socio-economic development efforts in the province.

In accordance with the United Nations Secretary-General's decision 2008/24, the integrated approach to the work of the United Nations, known as « United Nations in Action », aims at maximizing the individual and collective impact of UN action by reducing the cost of operations. In the multiplicity of interventions, this initiative helps to strengthen coordination between the different entities of the UN system through joint planning aligned with local priorities.

Piergiorgio Paglialonga/ MONUSCO