UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
3 Mar
2009
MONUC celebrates International Day of Peace with the Congolese people
The International Day of Peace was celebrated around the world, on 21 September 2004. MONUC commemorated the day beside the Congolese people who have suffered enough because of the war, MONUC spokesman, Mr. Mamadou Bah, said during the UN Mission?s weekly news conference.
To mark the UN International Day of Peace, MONUC sponsored a number of events in favour of peace, organised across the country, Mr. Bah said, indicating that in Bunia, several hundreds people attended a concert and several other cultural events. In Beni, a peace rally against sexual violence was organised and speeches were delivered to remind the Congolese people to cultivate the sense of peace.
In Goma, the International Day of Peace was marked with speeches about a peaceful conflicts management whereas in Bukavu, children spoke on behalf of Congolese people and ''clamoured for a genuine and lasting peace''. On that occasion, Bukavu's children handed a message to MONUC, summed up by the Spokesman as follows: ''Give us peace, our right to education, allow us to live a normal life as children, to eat enough, to sleep peacefully without any nightmare or gunshot''.
In Kindu, official authorities, MONUC, United Nations agencies and the population, notably the students, organised a two-kilometre peace rally, while in Kisangani, ceremonies and prayers in favour of peace were sponsored by MONUC Human rights section. Several speakers laid an emphasis on the need for a lasting peace.
Referring to the International Day for Peace, the Spokesman told the Press that this year particularly, the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has appealed for more tolerance and pleaded for the promotion of a better understanding between the world's people.
Mr. Bah went back over the Lengabo massacre perpetrated on 20 September, about 8 kilometres south west of Bunia. He reported that the number of dead increased from 14 to 15 after the death of one more person on Tuesday following serious injuries. The Spokesman further reported that the number of assailants who attacked Lengabo was 400 rather than the previously announced 300. ''MONUC and its chief, William Swing, once again condemn this horrific and incomprehensible act. There is no justification for such an act of Barbary at a time when the international community and the transition's government joining their efforts for the disarmament and community reintegration of armed groups, the restoration of state authority in Ituri and the deployment of the national army on the ground'', Mr. Bah declared.
Referring to the Lengabo massacre, MONUC military spokesman, Commander François Ouedraogo, in turn, announced that MONUC battalions were deployed on the ground to prevent further attacks. He also indicated that following a report about fighting in eastern DRC, precisely along the border area between the 10th and 8th military regions, MONUC conducted air and land patrols just to note that there was not any fighting on the ground. Moreover, the fighting which the press reported as having taken place before MONUC patrols did not have the proportion reflected, Commander Ouedraogo said, further indicating that according to eyewitness accounts, the clashes pitted the 10th military region's troops against the dissident General Laurent Nkunda's residual troops.
MONUC Spokesman, Mamadou Bah, further briefed journalists on some of the Mission's activities, notably assistance provided to the Congolese people by the Uruguayan Riverine Unit. He informed the press that since the beginning of the year, MONUC Mbandaka-based Uruguayan navy has saved the life of nearly 1,500 Congolese people during the various search and rescue operations on the river in canoes and barges in distress, he reported. In Kindu, The Uruguayan unit flied to the rescue of the local population several times, by notably bringing back the sick in villages situated near the river to the Kindu General Hospital.
In Goma, the International Day of Peace was marked with speeches about a peaceful conflicts management whereas in Bukavu, children spoke on behalf of Congolese people and ''clamoured for a genuine and lasting peace''. On that occasion, Bukavu's children handed a message to MONUC, summed up by the Spokesman as follows: ''Give us peace, our right to education, allow us to live a normal life as children, to eat enough, to sleep peacefully without any nightmare or gunshot''.
In Kindu, official authorities, MONUC, United Nations agencies and the population, notably the students, organised a two-kilometre peace rally, while in Kisangani, ceremonies and prayers in favour of peace were sponsored by MONUC Human rights section. Several speakers laid an emphasis on the need for a lasting peace.
Referring to the International Day for Peace, the Spokesman told the Press that this year particularly, the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has appealed for more tolerance and pleaded for the promotion of a better understanding between the world's people.
Mr. Bah went back over the Lengabo massacre perpetrated on 20 September, about 8 kilometres south west of Bunia. He reported that the number of dead increased from 14 to 15 after the death of one more person on Tuesday following serious injuries. The Spokesman further reported that the number of assailants who attacked Lengabo was 400 rather than the previously announced 300. ''MONUC and its chief, William Swing, once again condemn this horrific and incomprehensible act. There is no justification for such an act of Barbary at a time when the international community and the transition's government joining their efforts for the disarmament and community reintegration of armed groups, the restoration of state authority in Ituri and the deployment of the national army on the ground'', Mr. Bah declared.
Referring to the Lengabo massacre, MONUC military spokesman, Commander François Ouedraogo, in turn, announced that MONUC battalions were deployed on the ground to prevent further attacks. He also indicated that following a report about fighting in eastern DRC, precisely along the border area between the 10th and 8th military regions, MONUC conducted air and land patrols just to note that there was not any fighting on the ground. Moreover, the fighting which the press reported as having taken place before MONUC patrols did not have the proportion reflected, Commander Ouedraogo said, further indicating that according to eyewitness accounts, the clashes pitted the 10th military region's troops against the dissident General Laurent Nkunda's residual troops.
MONUC Spokesman, Mamadou Bah, further briefed journalists on some of the Mission's activities, notably assistance provided to the Congolese people by the Uruguayan Riverine Unit. He informed the press that since the beginning of the year, MONUC Mbandaka-based Uruguayan navy has saved the life of nearly 1,500 Congolese people during the various search and rescue operations on the river in canoes and barges in distress, he reported. In Kindu, The Uruguayan unit flied to the rescue of the local population several times, by notably bringing back the sick in villages situated near the river to the Kindu General Hospital.
