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Member"; of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) counting votes after the first mydtiparty election in more tlian 40
years, Kirishasa, DRC, 30 July 2006. The dish'ibution of election material and pei";onnel acmss this vast counby lias been
complicated by the poor tiaansport system and laclc of a fiuzctioning civic administration in most ar'eas. (C Tiggy Ridley/IRIN
goyernment to play its full police and the aimy, the organize these elections, Q: Where would you like
role in making sure that payment of their salaries very few people gave us to see the country
those wlio are cunently and their traii'iing and so on much cliance of success. year or two? in a
dying and outside of the are veiy impoitaiit aspects. You may now see what has
whole development process Many of those lacking food, been achieved over tl'iat We would all like to see the
are reached as a matter of health care and clean water period, includiiig the work counhy reach tlie stage
pnority. may well think that this is
of the 17,000 soldiers that
where we can say "pull out
the number one priority. the UN has in the countiy.
the international troops"
Q: You said earlier that This is because they may They have been vcry useful
because the counhy is self-
there are no roads, so per- want to stop the men in uni- in helping the liumanitai'ian
sustaining. Nevertheless, it
haps the most urgent fonn attacking the civil organizations to protect will require an intemational
thing to be done is to population, taking their civilian lives by being effort continuing for anuin-
rebuild the infrastruchi- food, raping their women. deployed iiito places so as ber of years before new
re. Tlus is a phenomenon that to offset the threats that are institutions are established
has to be brought under often posed by men in uni- to serve the population, that
There are many very urgent control very rapidly. I thii* fori'n-be they the militia, exploit the resources for the
tings to do, and rehabilita- it is one of the top priorities, the national Ell"Iny or foreign benefit of that population.
ting tl'ie roads so that they even compared to the armed forces. We are cer-
are passable is iinportant. It huinaiutarian side. tainly pleased to see the The DRC has the potential
is also vei'y ii'nportant to progress that has been to be the motor of central
keep the poprilation alive, Q: Would you consider achieved. Much more Africa, and it is frankly
and to put in place tlie this operation as one of needs to be done, of course. unthinkable not to solve the
mechanism of State. the success stories of the We realize that the road Congolese dileini'na, tlie
United Nations? ahead is very hard, but I do internal conflicts, etc. After
Perhaps the priority requi- think that over the last year all, three years ago, tlie
ret'nent at tl'ffs moment is to I am a little hesitant to we have seen very positive counQ was the scene of six
ensure that the security for- declare anyting as a suc- result. In this rather external arinies fighting,
ces-paiticularly tlie inili- cess stoiy. However, if you inhospitable country, the
and it was called Africa's
taiy-become a meclia- 100k back some fifteen progress that has been First World War. That, for-
nism for protecting tlie months, when we started to inade is sometg we are tunately, is now largely the
poprilation rather tlian work with the Independent certainly not ashamed of past, with some limited
preyiiig on tliem. With the Electoral Commission to
reinnants of foreign anned
5 2006 Diva 17

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