NAIROBI, 24 January (IRIN) - An
inter-agency mission will begin a two-week tour on Monday to assess the
situation of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) with a view to devising strategic plans to overcome
the country-wide problem, according to the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The country has an estimated 2.4 million
IDPs according to the 2003 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal. OCHA said
on Thursday that the recent withdrawal and demobilisation of foreign troops
in the DRC had led to significant changes on the ground: certain areas
previously inaccessible were now reachable for humanitarian organisations,
and that might encourage the return of IDPs. Conversely, increased insecurity
in other areas due to renewed fighting between Congolese armed groups was
hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid to vulnerable populations and
resulting in further displacement and increased protection problems.
Agencies and institutions with either a humanitarian or recovery/reintegration mandates have been invited to participate. They include the UN Development Programme, the UN Children's Fund, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Others are the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Habitat, the UN Mission in the DRC, the World Food Programme, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the UN World Health Organisation, the International Organisation for Migration and the Red Cross Movement, as well as representatives from the NGO community and donors.
The UN IDP Unit conducted two preliminary missions - 7-10 October 2002 in Kinshasa and 1-7 December 2002 in Kinshasa and eastern DRC - to explore the conditions and scope for an inter-agency mission on internal displacement in the country.
[ENDS]
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003