VAST HUMANITARIAN NEEDS FOUND IN SOUTH KIVU PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

VAST HUMANITARIAN NEEDS FOUND IN SOUTH KIVU PROVINCE,

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

NEW YORK, 31 October (OCHA) -- A recent humanitarian needs assessment mission conducted jointly by several United Nations agencies has found widespread humanitarian needs in the region from Uvira to Fizi in the South Kivu Province of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

      Priorities for humanitarian action are protection/security, water, health and food security, according to the mission, conducted from 16 to 20 October by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
      The population of the region visited was estimated to be about 375,000, including 76,500 internally displaced persons, 44,500 internal returnees and 5,000 returnees from neighbouring United Republic of Tanzania -- many of whom had been refugees for five to seven years.  “Hundreds if not thousands” of Rwandan refugees who wished to remain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were also reported.
      The mission reported that although a greater sense of security seemed to have returned among the population, residents remained apprehensive about the possible eruption of renewed hostilities, given the presence of a wide range of armed elements in the region.

      Serious concerns about the safety of civilians in the region persist.  The mission said that a “considerable number of people remained displaced in inaccessible areas, with no intention of returning to their homes until their security could be guaranteed by all military actors”.  The mission also cited one local non-governmental organization as having reported that from August to mid-October 2003, 452 women and seven men had been raped along the Makobola-Baraka-Katanga axis.
      Food insecurity was found to be closely linked to continued insecurity:  despite being a very fertile region, many residents had refused to resume cultivation of their fields, the systematic pillage of crops having become common practice among armed groups.  On top of this, the steady return of internally displaced persons and refugees had placed a considerable burden on already food-insecure populations.  The mission reported that malnutrition “was clearly visible” among populations to which they had access.

Urgent distribution of seeds and tools, as well as food relief to prevent consumption of seeds, was recommended by the mission, which added that rehabilitation of roads would also be necessary to facilitate the eventual transport of harvests from fields to markets.  The mission called for the testing of water supplies, the reconstruction of water provision networks, and the installation of latrines.  Furthermore, it said the rehabilitation of health centres, the provision of essential medicines and the resumption of vaccination campaigns -- including provision of “cold chain” supplies for the proper storage of vaccines -- would be needed.
      A final report of the mission is due to be issued next week, followed by a special coordination meeting among United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to discuss follow-up action.

For further information, please contact:  Stephanie Bunker, tel.:  +917 367 5126 (OCHA NY); Elizabeth Byrs, tel.:  +41 22 917 2653 (OCHA Geneva).

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