U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Note: More information specifically on the USG response to the eruption of violence in Kisangani can be found in an Information Bulletin dated August 10, 2000.
Background
Laurent-Desire Kabila and his Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997. The ADFL renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC) and inaugurated President Kabila on May 29, 1997.
In August 1998, President Kabila ordered Rwandan troops to leave the DROC following his loss of support from the governments of Rwanda and Uganda, who condemned President Kabila for his lack of control over combatants operating from the DROC into these countries. Rwanda subsequently attacked Kinshasa, the capital of DROC, and organized anti-Kabila operations in eastern Congo with the Government of Uganda’s support. Soldiers from Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia thwarted the attack on Kinshasa but fighting among competing factions and against President Kabila continues throughout the eastern and central provinces of DROC. The prolonged fighting has led to massive population displacements within the DROC and across regional borders and devastated local infrastructure, particularly the health sector.
A number of fragile peace initiatives in the DROC and the region have been forged. In July-August 1999, the leaders of the DROC, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, and the warring factions signed the Lusaka Peace Accords that outlined a cease-fire, organized an inter-Congolese dialogue, and requested the deployment of the U.N. Observer Mission to the DROC (MONUC). Initially established with 90 U.N. military observers, MONUC was increased to 5,500 peacekeeping troops in February 2000, and in October, its mandate was extended to December 15, 2000. All sides in the conflict have repeatedly violated the Lusaka Peace Accords.
Numbers Affected
The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reports that an estimated 1.8 million people have been internally displaced by the conflict since August 1998. In the provinces of North and South Kivu, which are predominantly controlled by factions backed by the governments of Rwanda or Uganda, displacement has increased due to repeated fighting with President Kabila-backed forces. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) typically have integrated into host communities, straining local coping mechanisms and limited health facilities. However, approximately 12,500 IDPs are sheltered in urban camps around Kisangani, 18,000 in Kinshasa, and 20,000 in Katanga province.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports an estimated 373,000 refugees from the DROC have crossed into Angola (13,000), Burundi (21,000), the Republic of the Congo (120,000), Rwanda (33,000), Tanzania (98,000), Uganda (8,000), and Zambia (80,000). In addition, approximately 315,000 refugees have entered the DROC from Angola (180,000), Burundi (19,000), the Republic of the Congo (12,000), Rwanda (33,000) Sudan (68,000), and Uganda (3,000) because of increasingly volatile situations in these countries. The majority of refugees in the DROC have been integrated into already vulnerable host communities.
Current Situation
Developments in the Peace Process: During October 2000, the Republic of South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki called a state summit of regional leaders on the Congolese war in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. On October 16, the key nations involved recommitted themselves to the Lusaka Peace Accords and agreed that those parties involved in the conflict should withdraw an additional 15 km from their original 1999 cease-fire positions. The government of Rwanda offered to withdraw a further 200 km while MONUC monitors were requested to supervise further voluntary disengagements in eastern DROC. The key nations recommitted to these terms at a follow-up summit in Maputo on November 27. As of November 2000, an estimated total of only 500 military monitors have been deployed to the DROC because of continued cease-fire violations and the lack of freedom of movement for U.N. personnel.
Political leaders from Zimbabwe, Mali, Rwanda, Uganda and representatives from Angola, the DROC, Namibia, and South Africa met in Tripoli, Libya on November 7-8 in another regional peace initiative and agreed to deploy a military force composed of neutral African soldiers to the DROC. The force would "guarantee the borders of Rwanda and Uganda" (leading to both governments agreeing to withdraw their forces from the DROC) and assess plans to disarm and resettle militia groups active in the DROC. One of the results of a successful peace process will be increased humanitarian access that has been constrained by fighting across DROC’s borders.
Recent Refugee Influx: UNHCR reports that nearly 18,000 Angolans have amassed at the Angolan border and have been crossing into Kahemba in the DROC to escape heightened clashes between the government of the Republic of Angola forces and the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) combatants. An estimated 170,000 Angolans have already sought refuge in the DROC including 25,000 refugees located in UNHCR reception sites in South Bandundu province, and thousands are reported to be hiding in the forest and in makeshift shelters due to fears of UNITA attacks in border areas. Fuel shortages and impassable roads have hampered humanitarian relief efforts.
Decreasing Security: Increased fighting in Orientale province (Bunia), South Kivu province (near Baraka in the Uvira region), and in Katanga province (Kalemie, Pweto, Moba, Kirungu, and Pepa) in late October through early December resulted in civilian deaths and the displacement of local populations. Indigenous Mai-Mai militias, the Burundian Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD), and radical Rwandan Hutu militias are some of the combatants reported to be contributing to the violence. Due to the increasing insecurity, NGOs working on BHR/OFDA-funded food security and nutrition programs in Katanga were forced to evacuate on October 25, further limiting humanitarian access to IDPs and vulnerable populations.
Health and Food Security Concerns: A recent survey by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) concludes that the current mortality rates in the DROC are attributable to endemic and epidemic diseases that have been exacerbated by fighting and displacement. The conflict has led to a substantial decline of the Congolese economy and infrastructure system, leading UNOCHA to report that the education system is virtually paralyzed and the level of health service has roughly been halved over the last year. In January 2000, a Report of the U.N. Secretary-General to the Security Council on MONUC reported more than 2.1 million people (IDPs, refugees, and urban vulnerable) face critical food insecurity, while an additional 8.4 million Congolese remain at risk of obtaining sufficient daily nutritional requirements. The agricultural sector, accounting for half of DROC’s GDP and four-fifths of total employment, has been extensively damaged and growing seasons interrupted. Continued insecurity has limited consistent access of NGOs into affected areas that also accommodate significant numbers of vulnerable IDPs, such as in the provinces of North and South Kivu in eastern DROC.
USG Assistance
Total U.S. Government (USG) Humanitarian Assistance in FY 2000: $32,558,434
Health: During FY 2000, BHR/OFDA funded eight grants targeting the health sector in eight of eleven provinces: Kasai Orientale, Bandundu, North and South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema, Equateur, and Katanga. These grants focused on lowering mortality rates by improving vulnerable groups’ nutritional status, providing medical equipment and essential medicines, increasing the surveillance of epidemiological information, extending vaccination programs, emergency training health zone personnel, and providing emergency basic health care to vulnerable populations. NGOs funded by BHR/OFDA include Catholic Relief Services (CRS), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN), Save the Children Fund (SCF/UK), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Relief Corporation, and Action Against Hunger (ACF/USA). Health programs funded by BHR/OFDA are targeting 2.4 million beneficiaries (IDPs and vulnerable local populations). Changing security conditions and the reluctance of local government officials to permit NGOs to travel to war-affected areas have been two major obstacles in reaching vulnerable populations.
Food security: BHR/OFDA is targeting more than 700,000 beneficiaries by funding seven grants directed at improving food security through the distribution of seeds and tools and promoting emergency agriculture rehabilitation projects. BHR/OFDA provided more than $370,000 to SCF/UK to rebuild the livelihoods and assist vulnerable populations in Bunyakiri (South Kivu) by distributing seeds and tools, increasing local fish producing capacities, and assisting in the repair of a key trade road. In addition, BHR/OFDA is supporting the basic water and fuel needs of IDPs in an IRC-administered urban camp in Kinshasa. Food security improvement programs through ACF/USA, Food for the Hungry International (FHI), and German Agro Action (GAA) are being funded by BHR/OFDA in Kinshasa, North and South Kivu, and Katanga provinces. BHR/OFDA is also funding grants for logistical support, NGO coordination, and emergency shelter materials, targeting more than 1.1 million beneficiaries. In addition, BHR/OFDA is providing airlifts of plastic sheeting and medical supplies to vulnerable populations in Eastern DROC through AirServ and is contributing to the funding of UNOCHA to alleviate the suffering of war-affected civilians in North Kivu and Orientale provinces.
The U.N.’s July 2000 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the DROC requested $61.9 million in July 2000 to continue rapid aid interventions and initiate longer-term political and economic assistance for more than 21 million war-affected people in the DROC and Congolese refugees living in third countries. The USG is currently assisting in this appeal. The U.N.’s November Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the DROC in 2001 requests $139.5 million to meet the emergency health and food needs of vulnerable populations and develop programs to promote minimum standards of living and community survival. The USG is currently reviewing this appeal.
NOTE: USAID/OFDA bulletins can be obtained from the USAID web site at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/ofda/situation.html