In Uvira, South Kivu, the 70th anniversary of the United Nations is celebrated with students … and prisoners

By

Darell Maurice

The Congolese city of Uvira, in the provice of South Kivu, celebrated United Nations Day 2015 in three stages.

First, on Friday, October 23rd, at the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (ISTM), where the Uvira United Nations family (UNHCR, OCHA and MONUSCO), brought together nearly 500 students from different higher education institutes within the City.

Here there was a panel discussion on the contribution of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Earlier, UNHCR representatives (Mahamat Nour), OCHA (Luka Djedi) and MONUSCO (Ould Mohamed El Hacen) outlined the mandates of their organisations. As for the panel discussion moderated by Mohamed Ould El Hacen, Head of MONUSCO’s Sub-Office in Uvira, it first gave a history of the UN Mission in the DRC from 1999 to the present day.

The office’s representative then recalled the broad lines of his organisation’s successive mandates, taking care to note that these are voted by the UN Security Council, in close consultation with the Government of the DRC. Ould Mohamed El Hacen stressed progress in the DRC on all levels, with the support of the United Nations.

Methods implemented by the UN and MONUSCO in particular and a general overview of systems were outlined, explaining succinctly what is done to stabilise eastern Congo. Following the discussion, the Director-General of the ISTM Nicolas Rusati, said he was honored that his institution was chosen to host this activity which allowed his students to fill some of the gaps they might have had on the United Nations in general. He closed his remarks by stating that “the Congolese would be wrong not to recognise what the United Nations has done and brought to the Congo from 1960 to date.”

As recognition of this partnership a “Club of Friends of the United Nations” will be set up within the ISTM in Uvira to continue the extension of the ideals and values of the world organisation. A competition on the United Nations closed the first day of the celebration of 70 years of the United Nations in Uvira with the highlight for many the giving of numerous gifts to students.

Then a football match pitted the United Nations and Uvira journalists on Saturday October 24th at the Stadium of Uvira Unit before a large crowd, the final score being 2-2.

Finally, on Tuesday, October 27th, a food donation (bean bags and corn flour) was provided to inmates of the Central Prison of Uvira, as a large batch of school supplies (notebooks, briefcases, pens, chalk and backpacks) were donated to schoolchildren and students from five institutions in the village of Mutarule.

Mahangaiko Muguli, of the Institute at Katoga thanked MONUSCO and the United Nations for such assistance, stating that “since we returned here, this is the first time to have such assistance. We never saw the government. MONUSCO is the first actor to bring us school supplies, albeit in small quantities.” It was a similar story from Director of the Primary School in Biloja, Bushambala Makwaga, who said “this gift from MONUSCO is timely, because many school children had difficulty writing; they had neither pens nor notebooks.”

Darell Maurice

Darell Maurice is a Journalist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city Kinshasa and works for Canal7kintv. He also blogs here.