Goma, 7 February 2011 – In Goma, political party leaders, civil society and army representatives, and students, among them many women, met on 7 February to talk peace. The Goma branch of Radio Okapi, initiated the discussion as part of a series of programmes to be broadcast throughout the month of March.

Opening the discussion, the head of the local Office of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Ms. Hiroute Gebre Sellasie, spoke of MONUSCO's role and mission in the DRC, while emphasizing its efforts to consolidate peace in North Kivu province.

Describing the culture of peace as first a state of mind, she said one should practice peace starting from childhood within the family setting, so that it becomes a part of one's life.
But the culture of peace, she added, also means respect for government institutions, democratic principles, and the rule of law.

The participants took turn to explain that the culture of peace is a necessity for North Kivu, a province, which is emerging from several years of conflict exacerbated by ethnic tensions.

The spokesman for the Amani Leo military operations, Sylvain Ekenge, who represented the Armed Forces of the DRC, encouraged the populations to trust their army. He admitted that the army has a long way to go before becoming a truly republican force but added "Considerable progress has been made" in this direction." This has been so because of the many sensitization efforts.

Sylvestre Kilolo/ Radio Okapi, MONUSCO