Bukavu, 22 July 2013 – MONUSCO officially turned over to the South-Kivu provincial authorities the keys for the newly rehabilitated building to host the Lwiro Natural Sciences Research Center, in the territory of Kabare, on 20 July, in a ceremony attended by the provincial Governor and chief of MONUSCO/South- Kivu office in Bukavu. The center was rehabilitated and equipped within the framework of the quick impact projects.

Addressing the ceremony, the chief of MONUSCO/South-Kivu, Aliou Sene highlighted the importance of the Natural Sciences Research Center (CRSN in the French acronym), especially in regards to the monitoring of geophysical phenomena in a region that is home to active volcanoes; insofar as "human beings' survival partially depends on their capacity to avert natural disasters and to take appropriate actions to mitigate the consequences," he further said.

The work basically concerns the refurbishment of the building hosting the geophysics department and provision of modern equipment to help monitor the geophysics phenomena. The project, worth $ 23,612, was funded by MONUSCO as part of its quick impact project; it is designed to contribute to upgrading the monitoring of geophysics phenomena and help control the seismicity of the Lake Kivu basin and the surrounding areas. MONUSCO's assistance will enable the Lwiro Natural Sciences Research Center to resume mapping the seismic risk zones as well as the zones prone to landslides and erosions.

Marcellin Cishambo, the governor of the South-Kivu province highlighted the need for the center to avail its research results to the first beneficiaries, i.e. the South-Kivu and North-Kivu populations. Furthermore, Cishambo pledged his Government will spare no efforts to equip CRSN with an automobile fleet.

Established in 1947, the Natural Sciences Research Center played a longstanding lead role in research area for the Central African region and the continent.

Alain Likota/MONUSCO