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DR Congo

DR Congo: Central Katanga situation improves, but much remains to be done

Several months after the onset of a crisis that displaced 150,000 people in central Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the humanitarian situation is beginning to improve. The UN World Food Program has begun airdrops of food to Dubie, promising to deliver 80 tons over the next several days, with additional airdrops planned for Mitwaba and Sampwe after April 10. This should begin to reduce mortality rates which, according to Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), are at 4.3 deaths per 10,000 people per day, more than four times the emergency threshold.

In its assessment mission to the area in February, Refugees International identified the lack of troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUC) as a critical gap leading to serious security problems for the population. In order to deter attacks against civilians and secure the area ahead of elections, RI recommended that MONUC deploy peacekeepers immediately to central Katanga. MONUC was able to conduct an assessment in Mitwaba at the end of March and planned to be in Mitwaba during the WFP airdrop. Even this temporary presence will reassure the displaced and local population and will encourage those displaced hiding in remote forested areas to move to areas accessible to humanitarian assistance.

Lack of humanitarian agency presence was another critical gap in central Katanga. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is now establishing offices and guesthouses in Dubie and Mitwaba for use by UN agencies; to date, OCHA, UNHCR, WFP, and UNICEF are planning to deploy staff to the area.

While these developments are encouraging, the humanitarian response in central Katanga remains slow, and the protection of displaced and local populations is still not assured. Public health remains a major concern. While a certain level of clean water and adequate sanitation is available to the displaced in Dubie, preliminary data from the field indicate that water-borne diseases are a major health threat throughout the area.

MONUC is moving to deploy troops to Katanga, but only outside the most affected areas in the center of the province. A stable presence of either troops or military observers is still necessary in Mitwaba, around Lake Upemba, and along the road from Lubumbashi to Mitwaba via Likasi.

There is still a very low number of humanitarian agencies in central Katanga. MSF remains the only NGO with a permanent presence in the area; others have planned assessments, but overall the lack of interest by international NGOs in responding to the crisis in central Katanga is unconscionable. The displaced are also still waiting for UN agencies to respond. UNICEF, for example, has yet to assume the leadership and coordinating role that its position as lead agency for the newly instituted cluster approach demands.

With elections approaching and the focus of international agencies turning decisively towards development and investment, the window to respond to crises such as that in central Katanga is rapidly closing. Hundreds of thousands are displaced and need assistance. The humanitarian community must fulfill their obligations and speed up their response.

Advocates Rick Neal and Andrea Lari visited Katanga in February.