UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
3 Mar
2009
Uruguayan President visits his country's peacekeepers in DRC
Uruguayan president, Jorge Battle, has arrived in Kisangani today to visit the Uruguayan peacekeepers, observers and military officers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, announced Wednesday, Ms. Patricia Tome, the Head of MONUC Public Information, during a press conference.
Mr. Jorge Battle and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the DRC, William Swing, were both coming from South Africa where they participated in the festivities marking the 10th anniversary of the end of Apartheid in South Africa.
In Kisangani, President Battle was received by the DRC Minister of Interior, indicated Ms Tomé said, adding that the Uruguayan Head of State was expected in Kinshasa on Thursday 29 April where he is due to hold talks with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila.
Ms Tome recalled that Uruguay contributed 1,751 peacekeepers and 40 military Observers and Army Staff officers to the UN mission in the DRC. The Uruguayan contingent is mainly based in Kalemie, Bukavu, Kisangani, Manono, Mbandaka, Kindu and Kinshasa.
The Head of Public Information further announced that the humanitarian barge, which left Mbandaka on Friday 2 April, arrived in Kinshasa on Wednesday. ''The barge was a double first since it was the first operation in 20 years and the first one carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Health, WFP, UNICEF, OCHA, FAO, WHO and Caritas'', she indicated, highlighting that the objective of the initiative was to make a ''joint evaluation of the humanitarian and medical situation of the populations living in North West of Equateur province''. Approximately half a million people benefited from about 6 tons of medicines and other products. She also said that the operation enabled to make a first assessment on the sanitary situations in the areas sailed across by the barge: Ingende, Itori, Yalokenge, Mondombe, Bokungu, Wema, Bokote, Monyeka, Nkasa, Bolobo and a large number of fishers' sites. ''80 % of the health centres visited are short of stocks, there is no trained nor operational medical staff, and the situation has lasted for at least three months in the majority of the cases, said Ms Tome.
In another development, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, appointed four experts to monitor arms flow in the DRC: an American, a Canadian, a French and a Cameroonian whose tasks will consist in ''gathering and analysing all the information relating to the flow of weapons and related equipment in the DRC'', said Ms Tome.
Responding to a question on the presence of Rwandan troops in the DRC seen by one MONUC patrol in Bunangana, Ms Tome declared that ''Monuc has no additional message to give for the moment other than urging both countries to cooperate and hold direct talks in line with their common objective, that is to sort out the FDLR-related issue as agreed in Pretoria in November 2003''.
In this respect, MONUC military spokesman, Major Abou Thiam, said that the Rwandan troops seen by Monuc in Bunangana district have already vacated. Mr. Thiam also mentioned a military offensive launched by the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) against FDLR (Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda) along the border between the DRC and Rwanda that left 3 dead in the rank of the Congolese and 39 in the FDLR's, he indicated, adding that 8 Burundian ex-combatants were made prisoners and handed over to MONUC. They will be repatriated by the UN Mission.
During the same press briefing, the head of Monuc Electoral Unit, Mr. Ali Diabacte, updated the press on the process of the organic law regarding the functioning and terms of reference of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). Mr. Diabacte declared himself satisfied with the Parliament's move in taking into consideration the recommendations of the International Committee to Support the Transition (CIAT). The objectives of the proposals are to make the CEI both independent and efficient.
Finally, the Chief of the Public Information briefed the press on a new report on the expulsion of Congolese nationals from Angola. ''According to the humanitarian organisations carrying out relief operations on the ground, at the border between the DRC and Angola, about 100,000 people have been expelled as of to date, but the flow continues'', concluded Ms Tome.
In Kisangani, President Battle was received by the DRC Minister of Interior, indicated Ms Tomé said, adding that the Uruguayan Head of State was expected in Kinshasa on Thursday 29 April where he is due to hold talks with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila.
Ms Tome recalled that Uruguay contributed 1,751 peacekeepers and 40 military Observers and Army Staff officers to the UN mission in the DRC. The Uruguayan contingent is mainly based in Kalemie, Bukavu, Kisangani, Manono, Mbandaka, Kindu and Kinshasa.
The Head of Public Information further announced that the humanitarian barge, which left Mbandaka on Friday 2 April, arrived in Kinshasa on Wednesday. ''The barge was a double first since it was the first operation in 20 years and the first one carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Health, WFP, UNICEF, OCHA, FAO, WHO and Caritas'', she indicated, highlighting that the objective of the initiative was to make a ''joint evaluation of the humanitarian and medical situation of the populations living in North West of Equateur province''. Approximately half a million people benefited from about 6 tons of medicines and other products. She also said that the operation enabled to make a first assessment on the sanitary situations in the areas sailed across by the barge: Ingende, Itori, Yalokenge, Mondombe, Bokungu, Wema, Bokote, Monyeka, Nkasa, Bolobo and a large number of fishers' sites. ''80 % of the health centres visited are short of stocks, there is no trained nor operational medical staff, and the situation has lasted for at least three months in the majority of the cases, said Ms Tome.
In another development, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, appointed four experts to monitor arms flow in the DRC: an American, a Canadian, a French and a Cameroonian whose tasks will consist in ''gathering and analysing all the information relating to the flow of weapons and related equipment in the DRC'', said Ms Tome.
Responding to a question on the presence of Rwandan troops in the DRC seen by one MONUC patrol in Bunangana, Ms Tome declared that ''Monuc has no additional message to give for the moment other than urging both countries to cooperate and hold direct talks in line with their common objective, that is to sort out the FDLR-related issue as agreed in Pretoria in November 2003''.
In this respect, MONUC military spokesman, Major Abou Thiam, said that the Rwandan troops seen by Monuc in Bunangana district have already vacated. Mr. Thiam also mentioned a military offensive launched by the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) against FDLR (Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda) along the border between the DRC and Rwanda that left 3 dead in the rank of the Congolese and 39 in the FDLR's, he indicated, adding that 8 Burundian ex-combatants were made prisoners and handed over to MONUC. They will be repatriated by the UN Mission.
During the same press briefing, the head of Monuc Electoral Unit, Mr. Ali Diabacte, updated the press on the process of the organic law regarding the functioning and terms of reference of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). Mr. Diabacte declared himself satisfied with the Parliament's move in taking into consideration the recommendations of the International Committee to Support the Transition (CIAT). The objectives of the proposals are to make the CEI both independent and efficient.
Finally, the Chief of the Public Information briefed the press on a new report on the expulsion of Congolese nationals from Angola. ''According to the humanitarian organisations carrying out relief operations on the ground, at the border between the DRC and Angola, about 100,000 people have been expelled as of to date, but the flow continues'', concluded Ms Tome.
