Since mid-March, the displaced populations in Kamango and Nobili, in the chiefdom of Watalinga, more or less 70 km north-east from Beni, have gradually started to return home. This return, which takes place in a context characterized by the coronavirus pandemic, leads MONUSCO to combine its regular operations with awareness-raising against the spread of the Coronavirus, for a better protection of civilians. The return of the populations can be…
Djugu Territory is going through a very difficult situation. Attackers are looting civilian properties, killing innocent people, torching houses and shops, attacking defence and security forces, including MONUSCO peacekeepers. MONUSCO condemns such heinous crimes and the Mission’s Chief of Office in Ituri, Cecilia PIAZZA, "has expressed her deepest sympathy with the victims and affected families". Radio Okapi: What is MONUSCO’s reading of the…
Faced with increased acts of banditry in the town of Bunia and its surroundings, in the Ituri Province, MONUSCO police (UNPOL) are cautiously continuing their simple and security patrols. In this context characterized by the coronavirus pandemic, MONUSCO police take advantage of such operations to raise awareness about this pandemic. " We want to show the population that altogether we are working to protect them and help them overcome the feeling…
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) organized an awareness-raising session on March 12 to combat sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by United Nations personnel. Altogether thirty-three (33) attendees, including 13 women from civil society organizations in Kananga, Kasai, took part in the awareness-raising session. Milton Perez, from MONUSCO Conduct and Discipline and Assuie Celestine, from…
A series of human rights training courses have been organized since last February by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in Beni, north-Kivu province. The trainings are mainly intended for troops engaged in military operations in that area. Since the training began, at least 500 rank-and-file troops as well as officers from different FARDC units have been trained…
On February 28, following the tough MONUSCO-facilitated negotiations, DRC Government and the former armed group Force known as ‘’Resistance Patriotique de l’Ituri (FRPI)’’ have signed a peace deal ending decades of armed conflicts in the community of Walendu-Bindi, Ituri. Ever since, fear has given way to confidence, hope has replaced anxiety and desolation, because people are now living in peace. " Since the agreement was signed, major changes…
On 8 March, International Women’s Day, Major Samia Rehman from Pakistan shares her 8 favourite things about working as a UN peacekeeper. She serves as an operational planning officer with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) . Serving under the Blue Helmet and wearing the Pakistani flag in a UN peacekeeping mission is an honour for me. My work is my passion. I believe that if you are a woman of integrity…
After 12 months of good and loyal services in the cause of peace and women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Major Jarin Sultana from the Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ contingent serving within MONUSCO, has left the host country, on the symbolic date of March 8, which marks the celebration of the International Women's Day. She is satisfied with the work accomplished for communities in Ituri where she had been deployed. Since arriving in DR Congo…
In the Ruzizi plain, South Kivu province, a hundred women and young people have benefited, for two and a half years, from a project intended to restore social cohesion between communities in conflict and local authorities, through a pro-peaceful solutions mechanism implemented in a concerted and participatory manner. In particular, the project has enabled women to regain a place of choice in their communities. Named in Swahili “ Tujenge pamoja…
The Congolese Government signed on Friday, February 28 in Gety, roughly 60 km from Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, a peace agreement with the ‘’Force de Resistance Patriotique de l’Ituri’’ (Patriotic Resistance Force of Ituri (FRPI), the last largest armed group operating in this eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The long-awaited agreement by the local populations is intended to restore peace, security and…