PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

At a press briefing at Headquarters this afternoon, the Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, expressed grave concern for the growing humanitarian problems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stressing that it was important for the international community not to turn away from that region, he said the United Nations was increasing its efforts to assist the people there.

Mr. Griffiths said his recent visit to the Great Lakes region had been focused on the plans for a new humanitarian programme for the Republic of the Congo, which would be launched by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator later this month, with a new consolidated humanitarian appeal for the Great Lakes region.

During his mission, Mr. Griffiths said he had also assessed the problems faced by humanitarian organizations in gaining access to parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Government, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies, as well as the wider international community, were facing enormous difficulties in providing humanitarian aid in the country. As a result of the extremely complicated conflict in the eastern provinces of north and south Kivu, access was extremely limited. The humanitarian organizations were not in a position to know the extent of the needs of the people; neither could they respond adequately to those needs because of the security situation.

The situation was complicated further by the problems in north-west Rwanda and the continuing insecurity and war in Burundi, he said. Personnel from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations in Kinshasa and Kisangani had expressed grave concern for developments in the subregion.

There was a need for "a whole complex of initiatives" to address the problems faced by the governments of the region and to allow humanitarian personnel to fulfil their obligations, he said. The priority in the region must be a political response to developments there, as well as increased economic investment. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for example, had emphasized the need for investments in microcredit projects and programmes in the Kivu provinces as part of an economic response to the needs of the people of that area.

Mr. Griffiths went on to say that the response of the United Nations and other aid agencies to the floods in the Kisangani area had been extremely effective. He had also been impressed by the cooperation of the local authorities. In addition, during his visit, the Government had announced the closure of the Kapalata military camp in Kisangani, which had experienced a

Griffiths Briefing - 2 - 5 February 1998

cholera epidemic. Those in need of medical attention had been moved to a facility run by Médecins sans frontières.

Reporting on his visit to Congo-Brazzaville, he said there was the possibility, through the new Government there, to provide a transition humanitarian programme to assist the country's recovery process. That country had a good history of economic and social investment programmes. The United Nations would seek international support for its humanitarian programmes aimed at improving such sectors as health and education, as well as the treatment of trauma.

Asked how serious were the risks of starvation in the Kivu region, Mr. Griffiths said the United Nations did not have enough information on the area because access had been limited since last year. Even the access of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had been sporadic. He stressed the importance of strengthening negotiations with the local administration in north and south Kivu to gain more access so that humanitarian organizations would be able to ascertain the number of people affected and the needs of the people in the area. Economic development in the region had been substantially disrupted.

A correspondent said African diplomats had expressed concern that the problems in the region had, in large part, been due to the lack of expertise of the humanitarian organizations and United Nations personnel in the region. They had also stressed that the problems of the Democratic Republic of the Congo could not be solved unless the problems of Rwanda were resolved.

Responding, Mr. Griffiths disputed the contention that humanitarian personnel in the region lacked expertise. He said they had undergone enormous difficulties, but were very skilled and committed to their work. However, the problems of the region could only be resolved by the region's governments, with the support of the wider African community and the United Nations. The United Nations would continue to play its role through the Secretary-General's Special Envoy in Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun, and the Secretary-General's Representative and Regional Humanitarian Adviser for the Great Lakes Region, Berhanu Dinka. He added that United Nations personnel were fully aware of the need to support the governments of the region and the wider African community.

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