Humanitarian Action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Weekly Bulletin, 18 October 2010 A publication of the Humanitarian Information Group (HIG) produced with OCHA’s support

Headlines • New displacements are being recorded in the North Kivu Province due to the presence of armed groups • Alarming malnutrition rates are being recorded in the Tshopo Territory of the Orientale Province • US$ 2.5 million was donated by ECHO to UNICEF to address increasingly worrying malnutrition in five provinces

Context

Overall Developments • The implementation of the March 2009 agreements between the Government and domestic armed groups is becoming an increasing concern in the east of the DRC. Signatories of the agreement, such as the former Congrès national pour la défense du people (CNDP) are expressing concerns regarding their integration into the governmental institutions at various levels, and some ex-CNDP elements are reported to have deserted the national army, especially in the Kalehe Territory of South Kivu. • On 28 September, Callixte Mbarushimana, one of the Forces démocratique de liberation du (FDLR)’s leaders, was arrested in France on the basis of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Mr. Mbarushimana is suspected of war crimes and allegedly committed in the Kivus. • Following the establishment by the Ministry of Plan of a new cell for the follow-up of legislation ('edits') to facilitate the work of NGOs, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will work closely with the Ministry on the implementation of the legislation.

Protection of Civilians • According to humanitarian actors working on protection issues in the North Kivu Province, elements of the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC) are often responsible for the hard labour imposed on civilians, especially on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mweso in the Masisi Territory in recent weeks. Some FARDC elements are reported having requisitioned an IDP camp in this area and used what they stole for the construction of shelters for their military base. Human right abuses against civilians are often reported being committed by some FARDC elements, leading to an increased deterioration of the security situation in most parts of the Kivus. • Protection incidents are on the rise in the Beni Territory (North Kivu), affected by renewed armed violence between the FARDC and the Allied Demcratic Forces/National Army for Liberation of Uganda (ADF/NALU) since July. Reports of murders and rape, and attacks against civilians in general, are frequent. A joint mission has been deployed on the axis Oïcha - Eringeti to assess the situation, but no reliable estimates are currently available. The ADF-NALU, based in western Uganda, was formed in 1996 and gradually expanded its activities to eastern DRC. After being largely destroyed in 2005 by the former United Nations Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and the national army, this group gradually reorganized itself. • The Temporary operating base (TOB) of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in Rasugho (Lubero Territory of the North Kivu) has been withdrawn, thereby causing protection concerns by the population. This development, in the context of MONUSCO's persistently limited resources, is being followed closely by humanitarians with a view to continued advocacy for improved protection activities.

Population Movements Internally displaced persons (IDPs) • New displacements were registered last weeks across several areas of the North Kivu Province, in particular in Pinga in the Walikale Territory, where armed confrontations between the national army and the Alliance patriotes congolais libres et souverains (APCLS) forced 500 people to flee their homes. These people left the villages of Birumbi, Kaseke and Misoke to reach Bikutcha, Buhimba and Rueti. • Additional displacements are being recorded in west of Butembo of the North Kivu Province, where local authorities reported the presence of 4,075 IDPs currently staying at 350 host families. These IDPs fled the violence caused by armed confrontations between the national army and the FDLR. • Violent acts also committed by other armed groups, such as Mayi-Mayi, are being recorded in the area of Kauli Lac and Mubana, in the North Kivu Province. Human right abuses and illegal taxations, such as the occupation of the primary school in Kauli Lac, forced the population to leave these areas to get to Magheria and Masereka. • New waves of displacements are being recorded also in the South Kivu Province, particularly in the Fizi Territory, where people left the villages of Kabara, Kamombo and Kanono to go towards Kirumba in the attempt to flee armed confrontations between FARDC and a local armed group. Their number is still unknown due to the persistent insecurity that prevents humanitarian organizations to visit the areas. Refugees in the DRC • Last week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriated 59 Rwandan refugees through Bukavu in the South Kivu Province. A total of 2,307 Rwandan refugees have now been repatriated from the eastern DRC province since the beginning of the year. DRC citizens displaced outside the DRC1 • UNHCR facilitated 829 refugee returns to DRC from Malawi and 825 from Zambia. So far, a total of 8,002 DRC refugees have been repatriated by UNHCR to the Katanga Province, including 7,730 from Zambia.

Access to beneficiaries • Due to the persistent insecurity in several areas of the North Kivu Province, humanitarian organizations reduced their activities. For example, Caritas was forced to suspend its nutritional surveys in Birambizo, in Rutshuru Territory, due to the presence of armed groups. In addition, following an attack against its staff perpetrated by armed elements on 14 October, the NGO AVSI decided to suspend its activities in the IDP camp of Katsiru. • In the Orientale Province, the insecurity due to Lords Resistance Army (LRA)’s presence, forced Mercy Corps to interrupt the construction of one school and one health centre in Linakofo, in the Haut-Uele District. For the same reason, Mercy Corps could not extend its activities in Ngilima where it was planning the construction of one primary school. • Advocacy efforts are ongoing in order to increase MONUSCO’s presence in both the Uele Districts of the Orientale Province, where LRA are still very active. This leads to a reduced access to beneficiaries due to the high insecurity of the areas. Additional escorts in the Haut-Uele and a possible establishment of MONUSCO bases in the Bas-Uele could considerably improve access to beneficiaries by humanitarian organizations.

Humanitarian Needs and Response

General Developments • A meeting is taking place in Goma to discuss and potentially revise the RRMP programme co-led by OCHA and UNICEF. A crucial issue on the agenda regards the potential inclusion of activities within sectors other than those coordinated by UNICEF, especially food security and health.

Education • The NGO AVSI started the rehabilitation of the primary school in Kilembwe and the construction of the primary schools in Kakumbu 2 and Lwiji in the Shabunda Territory (South Kivu), as part of the Rapid Response to Population Movements (RRMP) mechanism • On 4-8 October, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) distributed 563 school kits in the school of Eringeti in the North Kivu Province. NRC also constructed four classrooms in Katanga, while two schools (one in Luofo and one in Mabambi) are currently being rehabilitated. Last June armed confrontations between the national army and the ADF/NALU around the town of Eringeti caused the displacement of almost 100,000 people.

Food Security and Livelihoods • According to the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2010 in the country's 11 provinces, 24 percent of children under five years are underweight and 43 percent suffer from delayed growth due to malnutrition — a situation that is not new. A survey conducted in 2009 by the National Nutrition Programme (PRONANUT) in the Equateur, the two Kasais, Katanga and Maniema revealed global acute malnutrition rates above ten percent. Some 530,000 children under five and over one million pregnant women had then needed emergency nutrition interventions in these provinces alone, according to the Congolese Ministry of Health. The Department for Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection of the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has awarded US$ 2.5 million to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in the DRC. The amount is earmarked for emergency assistance to children and communities in areas with a high incidence of malnutrition. The funding will benefit projects in five provinces — Equateur, Kasai Occidental, Kasai Oriental, Katanga and Maniema. • The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provided agricultural support to 24,500 returned households in the South Kivu Province, including 4,000 in the Fizi Territory, 17,100 in Kalehe, 2,100 in Mwenga and 1,300 in Walungu. The kits include watering cans, hoes, rakes and seeds. • On 4 October, FAO also launched the distribution of social-economic reinsertion kits (bikes, seeds and goats) to 3,200 ex combatants who come from Aveba and Boga, (Irumu Territory) and Fataki (Djugu Territory) in the Orientale Province. These ex combatants were demobilized after the end of the Ituri conflict in 2007. • On 1 October, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched the “vouchers for work” programme in Likasi (Katanga Province) for 1,463 households with malnourished children assisted in the nutritional centres. The programme will allow beneficiaries to get food (wheat, beans, vegetable oil and salt) in exchange of vouchers at the small shops run by local traders previously selected by WFP. This initiative has several advantages, including the boost to the local economy, the incentive for the local production and the reduction of the time delivery for WFP.

Health • During the month of September and the first week of October, Oxfam distributed 3,000 long-lasting insecticide- treated nets to 5,410 people in Mutarule and Nyakabere, in the South Kivu Province. The main beneficiaries were children, pregnant and lactating women. • Oxfam is carrying out water chlorination activities and promotion of hygiene in the health centre of Ilamba, in the Fizi Territory (South Kivu Province), where cases of cholera are continuously reported. These activities were possible thanks to a donation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). • In Shabunda, the cholera outbreak was declared by the health authorities, and UNICEF is currently coordinating the response to the disease in this area where the number of cases slightly decreased during the 39th epidemiological week compared to the epidemiological 40th week. • The nutritional surveys carried out by COOPI in the health areas of Yakusu, Yaleko and Yahuma show alarming global malnutrition rates, such as 10.2% in Yakusu and 12.7% in Yaleko. While the Nutrition Cluster plans an extraordinary meeting to validate the figures, COOPI will start a three-month nutritional intervention in Yakusu. Other areas could not be assisted due to the limited budget and the reduced logistical access to the affected areas.

Protection • Some 700 children are reported to be working in the gold mines of Bhavi (70 km south of Bunia) in Ituri Territory of the Orientale Province. Humanitarian organizations are concerned by the lack of actors working on child protection issues and the situation is being followed up in order to find a solution.

Shelter and non-food items (NFI) • On 1-7 October UNHCR distributed 1,831 tarpaulins to 7,625 people in Bendera, in the Katanga Province. The beneficiaries are vulnerable IDPs. • On 30 September-11October, the NGO Solidarités Internationale distributed NFIs to 897 households, including 4,483 people, in Katanga (North Kivu Province), through the RRMP.

For more information, please contact: Maurizio Giuliano, Advocacy and Public Information Manager, OCHA DRC, [email protected], tel. +243-81-9889195 Stefania Trassari, Associate Public Information Officer, OCHA DRC, [email protected], tel. +243-99-2906637 Sylvestre Ntumba Mudingayi, Assistant Public Information Officer, OCHA DRC, [email protected], tel. +243-99-8845386

1 While this bulletin would not normally cover information from outsider the DRC, this DRC-related information is included with the permission of UNHCR.