DR Congo: Emergency Relief Coordinator meets with isolated IDP communities in Ituri province

(Luhago, Bunia and New York: 8 September 2006): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland continued his mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo today, visiting a site for internally displaced people at Luhago, in the eastern province of South Kivu.

Located in an isolated part of Ituri province characterized by continued fighting between Government forces and militias, food insecurity, and high levels of sexual violence, the displaced and the humanitarian actors working with them face daunting challenges. However, the active community of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the region has made some progress in the provision of basic services, including water and sanitation and medical assistance. During a meeting with 1,500 IDP families displaced by fighting within the past year, Mr. Egeland heard the concerns of the IDPs and reaffirmed the humanitarian community's commitment to do its utmost to provide necessary humanitarian aid.

Upon his return to the provincial capital of Bukavu, Mr. Egeland met with the Vice-Governor of South Kivu, to whom he noted that while progress had been made since his last visit three years ago, Congolese authorities still needed to do more to fight the cancer of impunity. Those responsible for the widespread sexual violence and corruption must be held responsible, he stressed, adding that the whole world was watching the country to what was being done to promote good governance.

At a subsequent press briefing, Mr. Egeland reiterated his central message of the need to end corruption and violence against the civilian population, all too often perpetrated by the Government forces who were supposed to protect them. The international community spent hundreds of millions of dollars per year on aid for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he stressed; this was untenable if the Government did not take action against those responsible for crimes. The United Nations would stay the course, but national and local authorities had to put their words into action to punish those found responsible.

This evening, Mr. Egeland is to meet with the regional commander of the Government forces, the FARDC. On Saturday, he is expected to continue his visit to Ituri, meeting with United Nations agencies and NGOs in Bunia before visiting a centre for demobilized girls in Bunia and travelling to the Gety IDP camp. He will then travel to Gulu in northern Uganda, for the second leg of his eight-day, three-nation mission to Africa.

For further information, please call: Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int