South Kivu: Protecting Civilians at the Heart of Humanitarian Operations

(Kinshasa / New York / Geneva, 30 April 2010): John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, travelled to South Kivu Province on the second day of his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

During meetings with Provincial Vice-Governor Jean-Claude Kibala and with humanitarians in Bukavu, Mr. Holmes expressed his grave concern about the lack of protection of civilians, and emphasised the continuing strong need for humanitarian assistance as well as humanitarian access.

"Civilians continue to suffer enormously and disproportionately in this armed conflict", he said after visiting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mwenga, located approximately 80 kilometres south-west of the provincial capital Bukavu, and helping launch a new World Food Programme (WFP) feeding programme for the most vulnerable parts of the population. "While some have been able to return home, others are still being displaced, and armed groups are in many cases still preventing any return to normality", he said.

The Kivu provinces are the scene of armed conflict between the national army and the Rwandan armed opposition group Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), in addition to violence related to the presence of domestic armed groups and bandits. The provinces currently host approximately 1.4 million IDPs, including some 600,000 in South Kivu. Over 70% of them live with host families rather than in camps, which increases the burden on a population with scarce resources.

Civilians also face frequent human rights abuses. Villages are routinely looted and burnt by armed groups. Sexual violence, mostly committed by armed men from all combatant parties, remains a huge problem. In 2009 alone, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an estimated 8,300 rapes were committed against women in the Kivus, averaging 160 rapes per week.

Humanitarian actors themselves are not immune from the problems of insecurity. Since the beginning of 2010, 76 incidents affecting humanitarians were recorded in the two Kivu provinces, compared to 176 during the whole of 2009. Over 80% of these incidents concerned non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are crucial partners of the United Nations in the humanitarian response. In Fizi Territory, located in the south of South Kivu Province on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, most humanitarian activities have been suspended since March 2010 due to insecurity. Despite these difficulties, however, humanitarians are able to assist at least 70% of those in need across the two Kivu provinces.

For further information, please call: OCHA Kinshasa: Maurizio Giuliano, +243 995 901 533, giuliano@un.org; Stefania Trassari, +243 99 2906637, trassari@un.org; OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org, OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int

The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors.