United Nations, December 6: UN humanitarians seek almost 50 million U.S. dollars to assist about 315,000 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokeswoman said on Monday.
In North Kivu province, "civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict between the Congolese army and the M23 armed group," said Stephanie Tremblay, an associate spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
She said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that renewed clashes displaced more than 390,000 people, primarily women and children, since March. Most of the displaced live with host families or in sites for displaced people across the territories of Rutshuru, Nyiragongo, Lubero, Masisi and in the city of Goma.
Tremblay said the world body and its partners provided more than 130,000 people food, distributed water to hundreds of families per day, and more than 1,500 malnourished children received appropriate care. As needs rise, the United Nations needs to be able to continue to support people and scale up the response.
"This is why, together with its humanitarian partners, the United Nations is appealing for nearly 50 million U.S. dollars," Tremblay said. "With these funds, we will target 315,000 of the most vulnerable people with food assistance, emergency shelter, water, sanitation, health care, emergency education, and protection services, including reunification of unaccompanied children with their families and care for sexual assault victims."
She also said the mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, reported working alongside the government to support the Nairobi 3 process, ending on Monday. The consultations helped identify political and institutional measures for each province to aid in the implementation of the national Demobilization, Disarmament, Community Recovery and Stabilization Program, to ensure sustainable disarmament and community reintegration.
The spokeswoman said MONUSCO provided political, logistical and technical assistance to the Nairobi consultations between the DRC government and the Congolese armed groups in support of the East African Community facilitator, former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta.
Source: Xinhua