United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Monuc
5 March 2008
Alan Doss, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, made his first visit to Bunia, capital of Ituri district in Northeastern DRC on Monday 3 March 2008, to conduct a series of meetings with the local authorities as well as MONUC and UN staff.
Mr. Doss was received at Bunia airport by the political, administrative and military authorities, as well as MONUC Ituri head of office Mrs. Olamide Adedeji, and United Nations staff members based in Bunia.
Mr. Doss began by meeting with the local members of parliament, the Ituri assistant police chief in charge of economy and finance and the General of the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) of Ituri.
Mr. Doss pointed out the three integral and essential elements which Ituri needs: peace security, and development.
"Ituri needs peace and security for its rebuilding and its development; conversely, this development will be fragile if peace and security is not solid," he said.
In response, the authorities said they wished to see the organisation of a forum for the consolidation of peace and development in Ituri. Mr. Doss declared that MONUC was ready to support such an initiative if it had the support of the DRC government.
Mr. Doss then met the UN integrated team in Ituri, composed of MONUC and UN Agency staff, where he was informed about their working conditions, the results obtained, the lessons learnt and the upcoming challenges.
He held a subsequent meeting with MONUC staff, where he congratulated them for the results achieved in Ituri.
"The successes are the result and fruit of your work, often carried out under difficult conditions. But all the good work can be tarnished by the bad behaviour of some," he underlined, referring for his wish to see a strict adherence to the UN's zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse.
Mr. Doss concluded his visit with a press conference before departing Bunia.
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