Since 2012 the DRC has witnessed a constant increase in the number of internally displaced people, up from 1.7 million in December 2011 to more than 2.6 million in April 2013. The east of the country has remained very unstable due to the presence of various armed groups and militias.

By Benon Tugumisirize

Churches in Uganda under the umbrella of Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and Act-Alliance have donated items worth US$60,000 (about sh160m) to victims of the recent Kasese floods.

The relief items were mostly household stuff – 1200 saucepan sets, 1000 jerrycans, 1500 boxes of soap, 1000 blankets, 1000 mosquito nets, together with 100 sleeping kits.

In addition to this were 60 cooking stoves, 20 boxes of water purifier, and much more.

Faits saillants:

• Risques de conflit intercommunautaire avec l’arrivée des Mbororo à Dungu.

• Suspicion de la fièvre hémorragique virale Ebola à Aketi.

• Assistance à près de 10 000 personnes à Mambasa grâce au financement ERF.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 170 people have died and 225,000 displaced as a result of flash flooding

• Food Security: Aid agencies urged to adopt ‘no regrets response’ to build on regional food security gains

• Renewed attempts made to address cross border and incountry insecurity in eastern Africa, namely in Somalia, DRC and Kenya.

• Regional Migration: An estimated 9.15 million people are currently displaced in the region: 2,012,531 are refugees and 7,141,442 are IDPs

(excerpt)

Djibouti

Events /trends/ data / analysis

New Arrivals: In April 2013, an estimated 4,615 migrants arrived on Yemen’s shores via Djibouti, a 46% decrease from March. 80% of these migrants were Ethiopians while the rest were Somali.

Boats: A total of 66 vessels left via the Red Sea for Yemen carrying an average of 69 passengers per trip in the month of April.

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

A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) has just landed in Uganda as continuous heavy rains in the western Kasese region have caused the ‘worst flooding since 1976’, according to the country’s authorities and media reports.

Uganda National Rotary alerted ShelterBox Operations department describing the disaster:

‘… Rains have wreaked havoc in Kasese District… at least six people have been killed… thousands of homes washed away, a hospital inundated, and roads made impassable… the immediate needs are shelter, blankets, water filtration…’

Operation Highlights

Somalia is the country generating the third highest number of refugees in the world, after Afghanistan and Iraq. UNHCR leads protection and emergency relief interventions targeting 700,000 IDPs out of a total IDP population estimated at 1.1 million and over 2,300 refugees in Somalia.

Written by Catherine Ntabadde Makumbi
Friday, 10 May 2013 09:28

The Danish Embassy, Strides for Family Health, Danish Red Cross have contributed towards Uganda Red Cross Society sh1.8bn appeal to assist 18, 000 people affected by floods in Kasese. The actual number of those affected is 25, 445 people, according to URCS assessments.