This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

African countries hosting large numbers of Rwandan refugees and Rwanda itself have reiterated their commitment to resolving the protracted Rwandan refugee situation in line with a Comprehensive Strategy that was announced by UNHCR in October 2009.

UNHCR operational highlights

• CAR refugees newly arrived in DRC have been pre-registerd by UNHCR in Equateur and Oriental Provinces. The new refugees fled the Southern part of CAR, mainly from the localities of Zemio, Rafai, Tabani, Gurekindo, and Djinikouma, the cities of Bangassou, Zime and Mobaye Mbanga, as well as from Bangui.

• Since February 2013, UNHCR deployed an emergency team in Gbadolite, Equateur Province. The Agency has also established presence in Ango and Bondo, Oriental Province.

Kinshasa, 14 mars 2013– Un forum sous régional de collaboration inter-pays dans la lutte contre le choléra s’est tenu à Kinshasa du 12 au 14 mars 2013.

The $140.7 million donation will provide food and nutritional assistance to millions of people, including refugees, IDPs, malnourished children, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

By Prosper Nzekani Zena

• Notwithstanding laudable successes, incomplete or poorly conceived disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) initiatives have been key factors to high rates of conflict relapse in Africa.

• Reintegration is the most complex and critical yet least prioritized facet of DDR.

• The decision to integrate former militias into the national army is typically a political expediency that impedes military professionalism and increases the likelihood of human rights abuses and instability.

Introduction

The figures above reflect people internally displaced due to conflict based on IDMC monitoring in 2011, but does not include those internally displaced by other causes including natural disasters or development projects. The Kampala Convention comprehensively includes all causes of displacement.

Brazzaville, Congo: 27 October 2012 – As the Sahel food crisis persists, compounded by recent flooding in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO) has appealed to health and development partners to support affected countries prioritize de-worming activities as part of urgent relief efforts.

"Flooding now being experienced in parts of the Sahel, creates the ideal breeding ground for contracting Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as bilharzia, and worm-like diseases putting more at risk of malnutrition,” says WHO African Regional Director Dr Luis Gomes Sambo.

This is the final Democratic Republic of the Congo fact sheet for FY 2012.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS