After fleeing recurrent attacks by armed groups into the bush, more than sixty people returned home in Pinga, Walikale territory, in North Kivu late October 2020 following the reinforcement of the Congolese armed Forces (FARDC) and National Police (PNC) units deployed in this area, as well as the presence of MONUSCO peacekeepers’ temporary base. The population’s return was noted at the end of an integrated response’s visit to Pinga by all the…
On Thursday, 22 October 2020, leaders of neighborhoods of Bunia in Ituri took part in an awareness raising session on the prevention and fight against sexual exploitation and abuse committed by United Nations personnel. Organized by MONUSCO women police officers, in collaboration with UN Mission’s Conduct and Discipline Unit, the session took place in the conference room of the City Hall of this eastern DRC town. The activity also aimed to…
MONUSCO has reinforced its security system on the outskirts of the town of Bunia, in Ituri, after rebels from the CODECO / ALC (Alliance for the Liberation of Congo) armed group, which was resistant to the peace process, attempted an incursion into this city. The militiamen loyal to the rebel leader called "Mountain Wolf" attacked, very early on Saturday, October 24, 2020, an FARDC position near Dele, 6 km south-east of Bunia. MONUSCO’S Rapid…
MONUSCO plans to build five modern military bases for the DRC's Armed Forces in the Beni region of North Kivu to increase their operational capacity to hunt down the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group. The announcement was made on Friday, October 23 by the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, in charge of operations and protection. "Quite right, [MONUSCO wants to build] five bases in this area. We are in…
MONUSCO is in the process of strengthening its presence in the Rwenzori sector, Beni Territory, to protect the population from attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group. David Gressly, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in charge of Operations and Protection in the DRC made that announcement on Thursday, October 22 in the locality of Kilya where he was on a working visit for a few hours. A visit during…
“We received carpentry training in Mavivi as well as tools such as saws and planers which have been handed over to us today. I'm sure we're going to make a better use of them”, said Muhindo Kiriki Siméon, a vulnerable young man from Mavivi, Beni, North Kivu. Muhindo Kiriki Siméon is one of the 432 young people, including 242 girls, who have benefited from the socio-economic reintegration projects financed by the international community within the…
Between mid-August and September 10, 2020, seven detainees were reported starving to death at Bunia central prison, in the Ituri province. Between January and September 10, 2020, altogether 52 inmates died of malnutrition in this prison. Bunia central prison has not received any state subsidy since February 2020. To deal with this situation, MONUSCO correction administration support section organized on September 11, 2020, an emergency video…
After 17 months in operation instead of the 12 initially planned, a first portion of the troops of the Senegalese Formed Police Unit (SENFPU 13) left Goma, North Kivu and Bunia, Ituri, to return to their home country. In the meantime, 135 other elements of the Senegalese gendarmerie, including 38 women, making up the SENFPU 14, have arrived in the DRC, to take over from their colleagues at the end of their mission, a second portion of which will…
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Leila Zerrougui, emphatically denounced fanciful rumors that MONUSCO would be involved in providing logistics to armed groups in the east of the country. During the weekly United Nations conference held on 2 September 2020 in Kinshasa, in responding to a question from a journalist in this regard, the Head of MONUSCO was firm. “ To say that we…
Ten months earlier, some 20 young men from Bunia, Ituri, underwent a training in cell phone repair given by MONUSCO peacekeepers from Bangladesh. The trainees included Jonas Byaruanga Dhedonga, over 27 who is now running two cell phone repair shops. Very fruitful encounter with this ambitious young man who, thanks to MONUSCO, seized the opportunity to change his life. | PORTRAIT | It was at his second workshop that he arranged the meeting with us…