OCHA URGES RESPONSE TO NEEDS OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

 

IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

NEW YORK, 29 April (OCHA) -– The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo is calling for an increase in the capacity of health partners already working on the ground and the financing of new partners with expertise in sexual violence and the prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS.

The recommendation was made after a 23 April inter-agency monitoring mission to Kahungula, in the south-western province of Bandundu.  Kahungula is one of the five border crossings into the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the diamond mine workers and their families being expelled from Angola.

The OCHA has received reports that Angolan military agents have sexually abused women and girls under the pretext of searching for hidden diamonds among Congolese being expelled from Angola.  In addition to the psychological trauma caused, risk of HIV/AIDS infection and other sexually transmissible diseases is high as military agents are reportedly using unsanitary methods for internal body cavity searches of both men and women.  Tens of thousands of Congolese expelled from Angola may, therefore, be in need of psychological support and health care.

Emergency aid for the expelled 67,000-plus Congolese is needed as soon as possible, although the humanitarian situation for thousands expelled from Angola over the past weeks may be stabilizing in at least one affected zone.  Angolan authorities began to expel illegal immigrants from the country in December 2003, targeting illegal workers in its diamond mines near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Congolese migrants are being expelled from the provinces of Malange, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Kwanza Sul.  To reach the border, many are forced to walk days.  The weak and young are left behind to their fate.  Upon arrival in the Congo, hungry, tired and destitute, no transport is available to take them to their final destinations.

A shipment of relief aid arrived in the capital, Kinshasa, on Sunday from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Brindisi, Italy.  Items include blankets, generators, boats and jerry cans, and will be distributed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).  Further transport assistance is needed as the two trucks used by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kahemba, BandunduProvince, are not enough to meet transportation needs.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel: 41 22 917 2653, mobile: 41(0) 79 473 4570.

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