Marking the International Nelson Mandela Day, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) Brazzaville jointly with the South Africa Embassy organized the screening of the film titled “Invictus” followed by a lively debate.

Around 100 people including a special guest, Ms. Tendile Mandela, one of Mandela’s grand-daughter, attended the event that UNIC hosted on 21 July 2011.

The UNIC National Information Officer opened the ceremony by introductory words and moderated the question-and-session. UNIC mounted a mini-exhibit displaying pictures of some historical moments or places in Mandela’s life such as his first address to the General Assembly, Soweto township, Rhoben Island.

Both UN Secretary-General and South African Government messages were delivered respectively by the UN Resident Coordinator and the South African Deputy Ambassador.
As a key speaker, the Chief of the History Department at Marien Ngouabi University emphasized on how Mandela served others by dealing with reconciliation and dialogue between communities, fighting against racism and xenophobia.

The activity received wide media coverage.

On 7 July 2011, UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Brazzaville hosted the launching ceremony of the Millennium Development Goals Report 2011. Participants of the event were around 80 including parliamentarians, government, diplomatic corps, UN and NGOs representatives and media.

At the opening the event, the National Information Officer (NIO) made introductory speech. UNIC also provided copies of the report and a press release to the attendance.

In a statement, the Resident Coordinator underscored the national commitment towards the accomplishment of MDGs in Republic of Congo. He quoted decision taken by the government to make free of charge primary education, malaria and HIV/Aids treatments, caesarean and various approaches of the protection of the mother and the child.

The UNDP Senior Economist presented the MDGs Report that noted the important progress made in reducing global poverty and hunger around the world. Alongside significant improvements in health, education, and other areas, the report also highlighted critical “road blocks” that have persisted, requiring sustainable efforts both globally and nationally, to realize some of the 2015 targets. The status of progress differs country to country significantly and also the paths that was taken to achieve these goals have also varied widely per local context, commitment and costs.

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Brazzaville marked the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in carrying out an information meeting for 100 high school students and NGOs members on 26 May 2011.

The activity consisted of screening videos on UN peacekeeping titled “In the cause of peace”, “Women in the peacekeeping, the power to empower” and a documentary from the Mission of United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).

Another segment of the activity was the discussion session with the audience which followed the testimony of a national army officer who served as a blue helmet in Angola and Rwanda.

In addition to the introductory words he made at the beginning, the UNIC National Information Officer moderated the event. He was responsible for identifying the above-mentioned speaker, inviting and briefing media, and distributing the UN Secretary-General’s message as well.

On the occasion of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, UNIC Brazzaville carried out an information session for 150 students from a private Catholic High School.

This activity took place on 7 April with the aim of explaining this genocide to young people.

On the basis of the comic book titled “TUGIRE UBUMWE - Let’s unite”, the UNIC National Information Officer conducted this activity underscoring various chapters from the history of decolonization to the images of hope, including crimes against humanity, genocide ideology and justice and reconciliation.

He also responded to questions raised by participants who received a copy of the document. A guest speaker took part in the activity as well.