Kisangani, 18 July 2016 – The United Nations Volunteers based in Kisangani offered a set of sanitation tools to the Congolese Youth Volunteer Corps in Tshopo province. The ceremony, which was presided over by a representative of the mayor of the town of Kisangani, was preceded by a brief presentation of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program in the DRC. The presentation was given by Thierry Ngaleu, a UN Volunteer serving with UNICEF. This was followed by a presentation on the theme « Environmental protection, a factor in reducing natural disasters”.  The aim was to raise awareness among the participants on the fact that the protection of the environment must be everybody’s business if the natural disasters regularly observed in Kisangani are to be prevented.

Madam Salimata Traoré, a UN Volunteer serving with MONUSCO, explained that the « support project for sanitation in the town of Kisangani » is in response to the call for voluntary initiatives for peace and development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, made by the UNV program in the DRC. « The objective of this project is to support the local authorities in their action to improve sanitation in the districts of the town of Kisangani through local organizations of volunteers. The project has three components: raising awareness of the right to a healthy environment; provision of sanitation tools, and launch a pilot sanitation operation in the town of Kisangani ».

After receiving the set of sanitation tools, the members of the DRC Youth Volunteers Corps (section of Tshopo province) together with United Nations Volunteers and environmental focal points of the United Nations Police held a weep-up operation on a street of the Makiso district. .

The voluntary initiatives for peace and development seek to encourage UN volunteers working with MONUSCO and UN agencies to engage in voluntary activities in their duty stations. Five quick-visible-impact projects under the UNV Strategic Framework 2014-2017 have been retained and will contribute to promoting volunteering and civic engagement in four different regions of the DRC.

Traduit par Tom