Kinshasa, 10 September 2012 – The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, is on an official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mr. Ladsous arrived in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, on Sunday, 9 September 2012 in the late afternoon.

In Kinshasa, the Under-Secretary-General will meet with the highest authorities of the country, before heading to the eastern part of the DRC, precisely to Goma, Nord-Kivu province on Tuesday, 11 September. From there, Mr. Ladsous will then travel to Kigali (Rwanda) and Kampala (Uganda).

The Under-Secretary-General summed up the purpose of his visit as follows: "Many things have happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last months, and so it was necessary to take stock of the situation. This assessment is needed even more as the United Nations Secretary-General has decided to convene, in New York on 27 September, a mini-summit on the problems of the region. So, I came to Kinshasa, and I will also go to Goma, to see first-hand what is happening in the East. I will visit the capitals in the region to get a clear picture of the situation, and to see how this mini-summit can contribute to moving things forward and improving the situation. »

Mr. Ladsous paid his first visit to the DRC and met with the country's authorities in January 2012, a few months after his appointment as Head of UN Peacekeeping Operations in September 2011

Penangnini Toure/ MONUSCO