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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: UN elections advisors arrive in Kinshasa

NAIROBI, 7 October 2003 (IRIN) - Two representatives from the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) arrived on Saturday in Kinshasa at the beginning of a mission to determine how the UN could best support nationwide elections due to be held around July 2005, at the end of the mandate of a two-year transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

A national power-sharing government was inaugurated on 30 June 2003, ostensibly bringing an end to nearly five years of war, and leading to the holding of nationwide elections within two years.

The UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, reported on Tuesday that the two representatives - Noureddine Driss and Marco Carmignani of DPA's Electoral Assistance Division - would meet with government authorities, members of the Independent Electoral Commission (Commission Electorale Independante), and the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (known by its French acronym, CIAT), in an effort to ascertain what type of assistance would be needed and what role the UN and international community in general could play in this process.

CIAT comprises ambassadors accredited to the DRC, meeting under the presidency of William Swing, the UN Secretary-General's special representative to the DRC.

UN Security Council Resolution 1493 of 28 July 2003 called on MONUC, in coordination with other UN agencies, donors and NGOs to support the DRC in the holding of free and democratic elections across the country.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Governance

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