Mbandaka, 28 July 2009 - About three hundred local government staff (Mayors, burgomasters and administrative agents of Mbandaka and the Townships of Wangata and Mbandaka) participated today in a sensitization session organised by MONUC’s Public Information section on the mandate and the activities of the Mission.
During the two hour session, the participants were informed on the origins of the UN Mission in Congo since 1999, the big stages of its successive mandates and its main achievements, which led to a peace process 10 years later in the west and the stabilization of the east.
This sensitization was a particular opportunity to counter misinformation and speculation about MONUC in the eyes of the local population. The participants were told that MONUC had not come to the Congo as a substitute for the national or provincial authorities, but to assist them in their reconstruction efforts for a new, peaceful and united Congo.
It was underlined that MONUC was not able to do everything, because it is not the only United Nations peacekeeping mission in the world, and therefore has limited means.
Finally, the participants were informed also on the last United Nations Security Council resolution on the DRC (1856), which, considering the security situation that prevails in the east, demands of MONUC to prepare for a redeployment of its resources from western to eastern DRC.
But it was specified that the progressive disengagement of the Mission from the west will not result in the abandonment of this part of the country by the United Nations, as the United Nations agencies will assume responsibility in MONUC’s place.