05/20/2013 21:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS, May 20, 2013 (AFP) - The Lord's Resistance Army has killed more than 100,000 people during a reign of terror in Central Africa over the past 25 years, UN leader Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

The guerrilla group led by Joseph Kony, whose global notoriety was increased by the Invisible Children Internet video, is also blamed for the abduction of between 60,000 and 100,000 children and the displacement of 2.5 million people.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Years of civil war severely damaged roads and other infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo

• A World Bank-financed project is rebuilding roads, helping to improve access to markets, health care and education for communities on the outskirts of Kinshasa

• Small businesses are springing up and residents are reporting an improved quality of life

In summary:

• Crisis in Congo : UNHCR opens a new camp in Cankuzo
• Resounding success for vouchers
• Evaluation for better protection
• To be protected, update your data!
• 4 months later… what happened to Mtbaila returnees?
• The Burundian parliament discusses the Kampala Convention on IDPs with the view of its ratification
• Uganda, Burundi and UNHCR sign an agreement on the voluntary return of Burundian refugees living in Uganda

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz of Brazil as Force Commander of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

He succeeds Lieutenant General Chander Prakash Wadhwa of India, who completed his assignment on 31 March 2013, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated and effective service during his tenure of more than two years.

05/20/2013 16:39 GMT

by Albert Kambale

GOMA, DR Congo, May 20, 2013 (AFP) - Rebels from the M23 movement and the army fought Monday north of Goma just two days before UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to visit the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, both sides said.

The volatile mineral-rich region was rocked by hours of fierce fighting with mortars and rocket launchers in the first clashes involving M23 since December.

The rebels briefly occupied the regional capital of Goma in November.

WASHINGTON, May 17 2013 (IPS) - With casualties in the long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) now surpassing every conflict since World War II, U.S. policymakers and advocates are stepping up campaigns to raise awareness and push legislation aimed at encouraging new negotiations, assisting in government reforms, and pressuring the neighbouring countries that have propped up the DRC’s government.

Some advocates say the situation today could be better than at any time in recent years for a durable peace process.

CAPE TOWN, 16 May 2013 (IRIN) - When Jean Baptiste*, a medical student from Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), arrived in South Africa in September 2012, he headed straight for Cape Town, where he knew he would be able to stay with his brother. No one at the border told him that it was no longer possible to apply for asylum in Cape Town.

He has since approached the city's Refugee Reception Office (RRO) 18 times to try to secure an asylum seeker permit and become documented, but he has never made it past the security guards outside.

Food security levels are generally better than a year earlier in East Africa and the Sahel, with most areas facing either IPC phase 1 ‘minimal’ or phase 2 ‘stressed’ conditions, thanks to favorable agro-climatic conditions in 2012.

By Taylor Toeka Kakala

GOMA, DR Congo, May 16 2013 (IPS) - The “blind and unrestricted” reintegration of M23 deserters into the Congolese army could harm the country, according to Thomas d’Aquin Mwiti, the chair of the North Kivu civil society platform, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, 519 rebel deserters have been reintegrated into the Congolese army, known by its French acronym FARDC, since 2012.