23 August 2007

The year 2006 brought to fruition one of Africa’s longest anticipated elections:  for the first time in 45 years the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) took to the polls.  The elections marked a significant step in the peace process in the DRC, which is rebuilding following the end of a six-year civil that cost 4 million lives in fighting, hunger and disease.

Working together with the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), 750 UNV volunteers, 83% of them from the developing world, supported the electoral process.  The volunteers, including 170 women, engaged in voter sensitization and awareness-raising initiatives across the country, from the capital of Kinshasa to the most remote villages.  

UNV volunteers were instrumental in setting up the infrastructure and providing the technical support necessary for voting and ballot counting to take place.  They transported electoral kits and related equipment and distributed them in the country’s 10 provinces and the capital Kinshasa, whereby security posed a major challenge.  UNV volunteers also took the lead in keeping the local populations informed of the electoral process and MONUC’s activities.  

This was no small feat in a country the size of Western Europe.  “The single most arduous challenge the UNV volunteers have had to deal with is the lack of infrastructure, specifically in terms of an accessible road network,” said Jan Snoeks, UNV Programme Manager in the DRC.  

Visiting the DRC in March 2006, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan lauded the contributions made by the volunteers and the results achieved, “I know that many of you had to go through hardships and have been exposed to dangers.  I would like you to know that I appreciate greatly your devotion”.  MONUC has the largest UNV volunteer contingent deployed with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations anywhere in the world.