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.”

South Sudan: The Political Opposition Forces – Communique (19.10.2017)

Position of South Sudan Council of Churches Regarding the Revitalisation of the Implementation of the Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) – (13.10.2017)

CEPO of South Sudan: “Working Points for IGAD-LED Revitalization Porcess” (15.10.2017)

MONUSCO is gravely concerned by the use of lethal weapons by Congolese defense and security forces in a crowd control operation in Bukavu (26.09.2017)

Congolese defense and security forces reportedly fired warning shots to disperse demonstrators protesting against rampant insecurity and repeated cases of armed robbery in the locality.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 26, 2017 – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of MONUSCO, Maman Sidikou, is gravely concerned by the use of lethal force by Congolese defense and security forces in response to public protests in Bukavu, South Kivu province, leading to civilian casualties including children.

This morning, in the Panzi neighborhood of Bukavu, Congolese defense and security forces reportedly fired warning shots to disperse demonstrators protesting against rampant insecurity and repeated cases of armed robbery in the locality. An 8-year girl, on her way to school, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet and subsequently died. According to credible reports received by MONUSCO, there are additional casualties and the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office is investigating to collect more detailed information.

“Defense and security forces have an obligation to use force only as the last resort, in compliance with the principles of necessity, proportionality and legality, pursuant to the international standards. Alleged violence perpetrated by protestors should never be an excuse for the use of lethal force”, said Maman Sidikou, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of MONUSCO.

“Furthermore, I urge Congolese authorities to ensure that law enforcement personnel is adequately equipped and trained to engage in crowd-control operations, and call on the authorities to urgently carry out prompt, credible and independent investigations into this incident, as a mean to prevent loss of civilian lives during future protests”, Sidikou concluded.

Opinion: Ambassador Mahboub Maalim in an interview states the IGAD failure in South Sudan and why!

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have been in-charge and had a pivotal role in the peacemaking in South Sudan. Not that it has stopped the civil-war that has escalated since June 2016. The Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army In-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), also between more rebel fractions inside the Republic, as the Ugandans are trying to enforce unite inside the SPLM. This as there are different states that the rebels and opposition have been strong, while the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has not had the leadership to secure the Protection of Civilians sites in the Republic. Therefore, the interview of Mahboub Maalim of IGAD in New Vision was exposing something dire. Take a look!

Ambassador Mahboub Maalim on IGAD:

First of all, I am an employee of President Kiir, among other presidents. So, to ask me what I can tell him, is like asking your house helper to tell you to change something in your house. But this is on a light note. President Kiir has been told a lot by his compatriots, heads of state from the region and African Union (AU), and those in the international community circles. People know that the South Sudanese do not have to continue dying after having achieved what they fought for. The situation in South Sudan is very unfortunate, and like you have said, IGAD has done a lot to try to stay on top of it. Recently, the heads of state of IGAD appointed a special IGAD envoy for South Sudan. Hopefully, we will see a lot of changes in the run-up to the operationalisation of the peace agreement in South Sudan” (…) “If the people in South Sudan are saying that we have failed them, I would not get surprised. If I was in their shoes, I would say the same. If I was like them, sitting in a sewage-logged UN camp in my own country, I would feel the same. But just to encourage them, IGAD has tried very much to ameliorate the problems in South Sudan since the problems started in 2013. In 2014, IGAD heads of state had a special meeting to just discuss South Sudan. It has never happened in our history that over 14 heads of state convene to discuss one subject. South Sudan is at the heart of everybody. Of course, whether this will be solved today or tomorrow depends on the goodwill of the South Sudanese themselves” (Lumu, 2017).

That the Ambassador said one vital thing, that he could not push the member states around. Since he could not tell what was wrong in someones else house, like to President Salva Kiir Mayardiit and his South Sudan. The Ambassador also wasn’t shocked if the they felt the IGAD had failed. They have really failed since ARCISS (Agreement for a Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, 2015). Doesn’t seem to be revived or anywhere near being fulfilled.

President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar of SPLM/A-IO are really battling for supremacy. Together with all the deflectors and deserters from both major armies that are making the situation more problematic. Since the IGAD has not made the peace-agreement work, nor had the capacity to make a successful negotiations between all parties. The South Sudanese should feel betrayed, when the Ambassador Mahboub Maalim are saying: “I am an employee of President Kiir, among other presidents. So, to ask me what I can tell him, is like asking your house helper to tell you to change something in your house”.

So it is not like the IGAD wants to rock the boat, as it is an entity respecting its member states and their direct leadership. Peace.

Reference:

Lumu, David – ‘IGAD boss applauds Uganda on South Sudan’ (23.08.2017) – New Vision Article

WFP Begins Food Distributions for Thousands Displaced by Conflict in Kasai Region of DRC (16.08.2017)

ABUJA, Nigeria, August 16, 2017 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its partner World Vision have launched an emergency operation to provide food assistance to 42,000 food insecure people in the Kasai and Kasai Central provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Food assistance will be provided to people who have fled their villages due to conflict in the region.
Where safe access is possible, WFP plans to assist 25,000 displaced persons in Kasai Central and 17,000 people in the Kasai province in the coming days. However, WFP urgently requires US$17.3 million to support scale up of its operations to assist 250,000 vulnerable persons in Kasai and Kasai Central provinces from September to December 2017.

Food distributions have started in the town of Tshilumba with further distributions scheduled this month. As part of this effort and where safe access is possible, WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continue to identify the most vulnerable displaced people in areas identified with high levels of food insecurity, as determined in a recent food security study.

The results of this recent food security assessment showed that in the last year, the number of people in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance in the DRC rose by 1.8 million, from 5.9 million to 7.7 million. In conflict-ridden areas, more than 1.5 million people are facing “emergency” levels of food insecurity, leaving many with no option but to sell everything they have while skipping or reducing their meals.

In addition to food distributions, WFP is leading the Logistics Cluster, which provides technical and logistical support to humanitarian organizations and has been operational in the Kasai region since June. Mobile warehouses have been built to store food and non-food items, while several trucks have been sent to Kasai and Kasai Central to transport food and supplies.

In order to meet the huge needs of the displaced people in hard-to-reach areas, the WFP-led United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) has expanded its support since June, positioning an aircraft in Kananga in Kasai Central on a permanent basis and starting three weekly flights to Tshikapa, Kasai. As a result, those most in need are more accessible to humanitarian organizations.

“We launched this emergency response as soon as funds became available,” said Claude Jibidar, WFP Representative and Country Director in DRC. “We targeted the most vulnerable among the vulnerable, and our access to these displaced people also depend on security conditions. However, with nearly one and a half million displaced people in the Kasai region, additional donor support is essential for WFP to scale up our operations and reach more vulnerable displaced people.”

Scores of people have fled their villages due to the conflict that broke out in the Kasai region in August 2016. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are some 1.4 million internally displaced people across the Kasai provinces. In addition, more than 31,000 people have fled the region into neighboring Angola. With up to 3.8 million people displaced in total, the DRC is home to the largest population of internally displaced people in Africa.

The sharp deterioration in people’s food security is mainly attributable to displacement caused by an upsurge in conflict and pest infestation in crops across the country. WFP continues to coordinate with FAO and other partners to serve the most vulnerable people in the Kasai region, as well as in other parts of the country.

IGAD Revitalizing South Sudan Peace Process (18.08.2017)

UN Peacekeeping Mission Head insists on “zero tolerance approach” to militarization of South Sudan’s displaced people camps (10.08.2017)

UNMISS currently protects some 218,000 people in seven POC sites across the country where people have fled due to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

JUBA, South Sudan, August 10, 2017 – The Head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has insisted that the mission maintains a “zero tolerance approach” to the militarization of camps for people displaced by conflict and that the camps remain civilian in nature.

David Shearer, who is also the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, was speaking in Bentiu in the north of the country, where some 115,000 people are currently living in the Mission’s largest Protection of Civilians site or POC.

Last month, 22 armed men in civilian clothes were taken into custody by Mongolian peacekeepers, after they tried to break into the camp to seek shelter from fighting.

“The only way to keep women and children safe in this camp and others is to make sure they do not become militarized,” Mr Shearer said.

UNMISS currently protects some 218,000 people in seven POC sites across the country where people have fled due to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

“Undoubtedly, UNMISS has saved tens of thousands of lives by providing these sanctuaries from violence, but ultimately,” Mr Shearer added “we need to find a longer-term solution so that these people can return home and live productive lives.”

“Only those people in imminent danger and whose lives are at risk should be sheltering in these sites,” the UNMISS Head said.

UN Police Officers are working with community groups in the POC sites to ensure that military groups are unable to find refuge there.

“UNMISS is stepping up peacekeeping patrols outside many of its POC sites to build confidence for local people to return home,” said David Shearer. “That needs to go hand in hand with the efforts of humanitarian agencies to provide targeted assistance to surrounding communities to support that return.”

Southern Sudan Associated Advocates letter to the Kenyan Embassy: “Re: Targeting of South Sudanese in Kenya” (04.08.2017)