The United Nations (U.N.) will work together with the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as other partners in ensuring security in the Ituri province, the eastern part of the country.
U.N.’s top peacekeeping official, Jean-Pierre Lacroix held different discussions with provincial authorities of Ituri and North Kivu and reiterated the need for the international community and other regional partners to support the DRC in providing security for the displaced people, including in Ituri province where recurring attacks from the CODECO militias in Djugu territory have left hundreds of people dead and thousands internally displaced.
Lacroix visited a UN site in Djugu territory of Ituri that is hosting 74,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) and listened to representatives of communities living on the site, who appealed for various things from the UN – and the Government – as the DRC’s Minister for Defense, Gilbert Kabanda, was accompanying the UN peacekeeping chief.
Defence Minister Kabanda promised that within one month, more Congolese troops will be deployed to the villages where the IDPs had fled so that security can be fully restored and infrastructure, such as schools and health facilities could be built.