Kinshasa, 2 October 2009 - From 30 September to 1 October last, 22 focal points from MONUC police were sensitized by MONUC’s Conduct and Discipline section, on the code of conduct and discipline in relation to sexual exploitation and abuse. The objective of the workshop was to increase the knowledge of the participants on the respect of the rules and good conduct, as well as the various categories of infringements and established procedures.
As trainers, the MONUC police focal points learned their role and their responsibilities in this matter, and the importance of combating and preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).
At the end of the training, Yewande Odia, head of MONUC’s Conduct and Discipline (CDU) section, called on the policemen “to uphold and respect the highest standards of conduct, discipline and integrity of the United Nations, not only to honour the organization for which they work, but also the reputation of their respective countries.”
MONUC Deputy Police Commissioner Abdallah Wafy, was delighted with the holding of this training, saying that “it will contribute to giving MONUC Police a healthy and respectable reputation.”
United Nations personnel, who have a mission to protect the population, must be first defenders and not authors, especially concerning sexual exploitation and abuse, he recalled.
“Bad conduct by only one civil servant can have troublesome consequences for the reputation of the United Nations. The policemen of the United Nations are called therefore to be attentive and take this issue into account.”
Commissioner Wafy wished henceforth that all policemen take the engagement to subscribe to the code of conduct of the United Nations, to respect it and to set it in motion, while sensitizing their respective sectors permanently throughout the DRC, with the support of the MONUC Police hierarchy.
The participants said the training was “enriching because it allowed them to distinguish what is permitted and what is not,” adding that “they were now well equipped to guide and keep their colleagues on the right path.”
Let's recall that every year the CDU forms new police focal points, who will also train their colleagues on issues of conduct and discipline in their turn, but also to sensitize them for the prevention of SEA.
A network of SEA focal points exists within MONUC, in every civil, military and police component (22 civilian focal points, 48 military focal points and 24 police focal points respectively).
MONUC CDU officers are stationed throughout the country, and their role is to give training sessions to their colleagues, to receive complaints and to transmit them to headquarters, in order for the complaints to be investigated according to established procedures.
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