Communiqué on the Meeting between the Chairperson of the AUC and the President of the CENI of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (01.11.2017)

RDC: “Une journee ville-morte a Bukavu Decetee ce mercedi 1″/11/2017 par les forces sociales et politques pour reclamer la tenue des elections en RDC” (01.11.2017)

RDC: Communique du Rassemblement (31.10.2017)

Visiting WFP chief warns of impending humanitarian disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region (31.10.2017)

WFP is ramping up emergency assistance there, planning to reach 500,000 of the most vulnerable by end-December, and many more early next year.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 31, 2017 – A humanitarian catastrophe is looming in the conflict-ravaged south-central Greater Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the head of the United Nations World Food Programme warned yesterday as he wrapped up a four-day mission to the central African country that included a visit to Kasai. Some 3.2 million people in the region are severely food insecure, struggling to feed themselves and in need of assistance.

“As many as 700,000 babies and children could starve in Kasai in the next few months unless enough nutritious food reaches them quickly”, David Beasley said. “We need access to those children, and we need money – urgently.”

Kasai’s traditionally high rates of malnutrition were pushed higher following the eruption last year of inter-ethnic violence characterised by large-scale killing, the wholesale destruction of villages and crops, and the targeting of hospitals, clinics and schools. The region now accounts for more than 40 percent of the DRC’s 7.7 million severely food insecure.

WFP is ramping up emergency assistance there, planning to reach 500,000 of the most vulnerable by end-December, and many more early next year. Dozens more staff are being deployed, an additional 80 off-road trucks are being brought in to deliver food to remote areas, and the WFP-run United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), presently flying aid supplies and aid workers to seven locations in the region, is being expanded.

But WFP’s emergency operation, launched in August, has so far been financed by internal borrowings, and only one percent of the US$135 million required through mid-2018 has been secured from the international community.

While the violence in Kasai has diminished in recent weeks, banditry and extortion are commonplace. Moreover, in a region the size of Germany with multiple active militias and a road network that is largely impassable during the September-December rainy season, humanitarian access is set to remain a challenge.

WFP’s work in eastern North Kivu province, also witnessed by Beasley, is likewise constrained by access challenges and limited funding. Just 250,000 of the province’s one million displaced people – victims of two decades of conflict – are receiving assistance, and only half rations.

Much of DRC’s population is dependent on subsistence farming, and competition for land is often at the heart of its violence. Many conflict-displaced families who had returned to their villages in North Kivu and Kasai told Beasley they could not resume working their fields, such was their fear still of being attacked.

“I have met too many women and children whose lives have been reduced to a desperate struggle for survival”, Beasley said. “In a land so rich in resources, that’s heart-breaking. And it’s unacceptable.”

Beasley acknowledged donor concerns about limited return on investments in a better future for the Congolese people, noting that some governments have threatened to redirect such funding to countries where they say it will have more impact.

“I hear those concerns”, Beasley said. “But let’s not hold innocent women and children responsible for the failings of others.”

“What the brave people I met over the last few days want most of all is peace – peace to be able to grow their own food, to rebuild their lives and to build a brighter tomorrow for their children. It’s a simple, powerful message, and I have conveyed it to President Kabila, urging that he do his part to bring about much-needed change.”

RDC: Dynamique de l’Opposition Politique Congolaise – Communique de Presse (28.10.2017)

RDC: Communique de Presse du Secretariat General de la CENCO – Sur la Visite de Madame Nikki Haley a la CENCO (27.10.2017)

RDC: LUCHA Open letter to UN Envoy Nikki Haley – “Kabila, the Chaos in the DRC and the role of the United States” (26.10.2017)

RDC: UNC – “Objet: Ma demission” (24.10.2017)

RDC: Rassemblement – Communique de Presse (24.10.2017)

UNHCR warns of worsening displacement in Democratic Republic of the Congo (24.10.2017)

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 24, 2017 – This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva:

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly concerned by escalating displacement we are seeing in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 2015 the number of people displaced internally has more than doubled and now stands at 3.9 million people – some 428,000 of these having been displaced in the past three months alone. Over the past year, some 100,000 Congolese have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees. With widespread militia activities, and unrest and violence fueled by ethnic and political conflict affecting many areas, the risk of further displacement is high. The challenges of getting aid to people in need are growing fast.

Tanganyika province

In the eastern province of Tanganyika, where some 584,000 people are internally displaced, intercommunal conflict between the Twa and Luba groups spilled into neighboring Haut-Katanga province earlier this year. Clashes with the army continue and there is wide prevalence of armed militia. Scores of civilians have been forced to flee, and there have been reports of murders, looting and extortion, and torture or other inhumane treatment. With people finding it difficult to sustain their livelihoods, more are becoming dependent on aid.

Refugees crossing from DRC into neighbouring Zambia are hosted temporarily at the Kenani transit center, close to the border. Over 5,400 people are currently staying at the center, receiving assistance from the authorities, UNHCR and partners. As the rainy season has started, it is becoming urgently important to beef up public health, sanitation and water supplies to prevent diseases. Psychosocial support, as well as care for people with specific needs – some 27 per cent of the refugee population – is also urgently required.

North and South Kivu provinces

Further north in the east of DRC, violence involving mostly local armed groups is also plaguing North and South Kivu provinces. In North Kivu alone, over one million people are displaced. In South Kivu, where 545,000 people are internally displaced, the security situation further deteriorated in September as conflicts escalated between militias and the armed forces in the territories of Fizi and Uvira. Fear is widespread, including among the 30,000 Burundian refugees hosted at Lusenda camp in Fizi.

Congolese from North Kivu have mainly been fleeing to Uganda, and those from South Kivu to Tanzania – usually transiting through Burundi to escape attacks in their villages. Currently, Uganda hosts the largest number of DRC refugees, over 236,500 people, mostly in the south-west. In Tanzania, there were 76,890 DRC refugees as of the end of September.

The Kasai region

Meanwhile, in the Kasai region in central-southern DRC, displaced people and refugees who fled the violence that started over a year ago have begun to return. As of 23 October, over 710,000 people had gone back. Many are finding their property in ruins and family members killed. At present the situation in the Kasai region is far from stable and humanitarian access has only just become possible in many areas.

In total, over 762,000 people are displaced in the Kasai region. In Angola’s Lunda Norte province an additional 27,555 Congolese who have fled the Kasai conflict are being assisted by UNHCR and partners.

UNHCR is coordinating protection activities for the displaced from the Kasai conflict, returnees and other vulnerable civilians. We have also distributed basic relief items and are preparing additional support, particularly for the communities where returns take place.

In light of the situations in these three regions, UNHCR and partners have recently upgraded the situation in Democratic Republic of the Congo to level 3 – the highest level of emergency. UNHCR, as part of this response, will be fulfilling its responsibilities focusing on protection and assistance of the displaced populations, including through leadership of the Protection cluster.

Refugees

In all, there are today some 621,711 refugees from the DRC in more than eleven African countries. And funding is urgently needed. Of some US$236.2 million required for the needs of refugees, IDPs and other people of concern in the DRC, only US$49.7 million has been received so far – a fifth of the amount required.

At the same time, the number of refugees from neighboring countries seeking refuge inside Democratic Republic of the Congo has grown by a third since early 2016 and now stands at 526,000 people. We continue to see new arrivals from Burundi, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.