Goma, 2 March 2011 – Inspector General Abdallah Wafy, Police Chief of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO,) was in Goma, North Kivu province, where he, along with several provincial authorities, attended two separate award ceremonies.

The first ceremony was a medal parade involving 125 MONUSCO police officers, who received the UN medal after completion of seven months of service. The second event was the presentation of certificates to elements of the Congolese National Police, following the completion of a training course. This training session was the third in a series put together by MONUSCO for the National Police.

Since the beginning of 2010, MONUSCO has trained 1,397 National Police officers from the North and South Kivus, as well as the Oriental and Maniema provinces.

In his address, Inspector General Wafy reminded his audience that the newly-trained police officers were former members of armed groups. The need to train them, he said, had been recognized by MONUSCO and its two partners - Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The aim is to enable the National Police to fulfill its role as a force for maintaining public order, and thus contribute to the restoration of the rule of law and promotion of human rights.

Alexandre ESSOME / MONUSCO