U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Complex Emergency
Situation Report #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002    November 14, 2001


Note: this situation report updates the Situation Report #1 for FY 2001
dated August 20, 2001

BACKGROUND

Continuing insecurity and limited access to vulnerable populations define
the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Joseph Kabila became the President of the DRC on January 26, 2001,
following the death of his father, Laurent- Desire Kabila. President
Kabila has publicly committed to fostering peace in the DRC and supporting
the Lusaka Peace Accords signed in July-August 1999. A tenuous cease-fire
has held for the last few months in accordance with the Lusaka accords,
and UN Observer Mission in the DRC (MONUC) observers are verifying that
troops have withdrawn the requisite 15 kilometers (km) from their forward
positions. However, in the eastern part of the country (North Katanga,
Maniema, North and South Kivu provinces) fighting has intensified
involving Interahamwe and Mai Mai forces against the Congolese Democratic
Assembly (RCD). In addition, some Rwandan Hutu fighters moved into Rwanda.

The Ugandan, Burundian, and Rwandan armies have partially withdrawn from
the DRC.  Namibia has completed the withdrawal of its troops, and Angola
confirmed on October 2 that it would withdraw its forces in the near
future, as mandated by the UN Security Council.  Troops from Angola,
Namibia, and Zimbabwe have supported the Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (GDRC) for the past two years. Uganda backs the
opposition group Front for the Liberation of the Congo (FLC), headed by
Jean-Pierre Bemba and based in Gbadolite, Equateur Province. Rwanda backs
the RCD, headed by Adolphe Onusumba and based in Goma, North Kivu
province.  Insecurity in rural and urban areas has restricted access to
agricultural land, decreasing harvest yields and contributing to the food
security crisis. Lack of access to traditional markets has discouraged
farming. Poverty is widespread and the health care system has eroded due
to a lack of resources and continuous looting by different parties in the
conflict. People have low purchasing power due to the lack of markets and
infrastructure. The World Bank estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per
capita at U.S. $78 in 1999. Widespread insecurity has resulted in limited
private sector activities. President Joseph Kabila has attempted to
address these economic concerns, however, the economy faces difficult
circumstances. Women and young girls increasingly have turned to
prostitution in the absence of other viable income alternatives, resulting
in alarming social consequences, including an increased incidence of
HIV/AIDS.

NUMBERS AFFECTED AT A GLANCE                  SOURCE
Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs)
Total: 2,045,000
-- North Kivu: 760,000
-- Katanga: 415,000
-- Orientale: 230,000
-- South Kivu: 225,000
-- Maniema: 160,000
-- Eastern/Western Kasai: 130,000
-- Equateur: 85,000
-- Kinshasa: 40,000
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)

Refugees from the DRC
Total: more than 333,139
-- 11,600 in Angola
-- 23,716 in Burundi
-- 10,095 in the Central African Republic
-- 83,680 in the Republic of Congo
-- 26,000 in Rwanda
-- 114,436 in Tanzania
-- 7,612 in Uganda
-- 56,000 in Zambia
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Refugees in the DRC
Total: more than 368,350
-- 200,000 from Angola
-- 19,950 from Burundi
-- 20,000 from the Central African Republic
-- 5,200 from the Republic of Congo
-- 36,000 from Rwanda
-- 74,300 from Sudan
-- 12,900 from Uganda
UNHCR

Total FY 2001 USAID Humanitarian Assistance to the DRC   $50,744,995
Total FY 2001 State/PRM Humanitarian Assistance to the DRC   $15,909,406
Total FY 2001 USDA/FAS Food Assistance to the DRC   $21,398,000
Total FY 2001 USG Humanitarian Assistance to the DRC   $88,052,401



CURRENT SITUATION

Positive Developments towards Peace in the DRC

The deployment of military observers from MONUC has opened some previously
isolated areas in the eastern DRC to humanitarian aid.  2,398 MONUC
personnel had arrived by the beginning of September.  The observers have
been verifying the disengagement of armed forces from the front lines.

A preliminary round of the inter-Congolese peace and reconciliation
dialogue began as scheduled on October 15 in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia.  The
dialogue ended prematurely, in part due to lack of agreement on whether
technical or substantive issues should be discussed and who should be
represented at the dialogue.  The dialogue is scheduled to resume at a
later date in South Africa.


Continuing Insecurity

All sides of the conflict continue to accuse each other of violating the
Lusaka cease-fire agreement signed in July-August 1999, and the situation
in the eastern provinces remains particularly precarious.  Mai-Mai groups
on the Ruzizi Plain in eastern DRC kidnapped a French woman working for
the non-governmental organization (NGO) Action Contre la Faim/USA
(ACF/USA) in late August, and held her for almost one week, prompting
ACF/USA to temporarily suspend their operations in the Eastern DRC. Armed
robberies in North Kivu province occur regularly, and movements of
Interhamwe and Burundian Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) armed
groups in Northern Katanga have resulted in population displacements in
the region.

Rwandan and Burundian Hutu militias allied with GDRC troops have clashed
with Rwanda-backed armed groups in the town of Fizi, located on Lake
Tanganyika in South Kivu province.  Clashes also occurred in Kindu,
Maniema province on September 29.


Health and Food Security

The ongoing conflict has interrupted planting seasons and disrupted trade
routes countrywide.  NGOs have reported high malnutrition rates and
widespread infrastructure deterioration in some newly accessible areas,
such as northern Katanga province.  Agricultural self-sufficiency will be
a long process, and hundreds of thousands of people in the DRC remain
dependent on international assistance to survive.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) in early October resumed an emergency food
airlift to assist approximately 25,000 people in northern Katanga province
who have been isolated over the past three years by the continuing
violence.  The deployment of MONUC troops to the province has improved
security in some areas, which has allowed civilians to travel from Kongolo
to Kabalo and Nyunzu across the front lines, and prompted the return of
IDPs in the forests to urban areas.

According to a report by the UN human rights investigator for the DRC, an
estimated eight percent of the total population of the DRC (50 million
people) is homeless.  Two-thirds lack access to essential medical
services, which have been degraded by looting, limited staff, and few
resources as a result of the ongoing conflict.  Diseases such as malaria,
cholera, respiratory infections, diarrhea, anemia, and amoebosis continue
to claim lives.  Approximately five percent of the adult population is
infected with HIV.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Health Organization (WHO)
hosted a national health strategy meeting in Nairobi, Kenya from September
24- 28, to discuss ways of improving health care in the DRC.  Provincial
medical inspectors from across the country, senior NGO representatives and
technical specialists, and USAID/Kinshasa and USAID/OFDA staff
participated in the conference.


Population Movements

According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, by the end of September,
approximately one-sixth of all displaced people in Africa were from the
DRC.

Approximately 2 million people are displaced in the DRC, but aid agencies
have access to only approximately 60% of the displaced as a result of
continuing insecurity in some areas, deteriorated physical infrastructure,
and logistical constraints.

A further intensification of the war in northeastern Angola reportedly
pushed recently repatriated Angolan refugees back into southwestern DRC,
as well as approximately 3,000 new refugees. The WFP reported that their
numbers could be as high as 20,000 people.  UNHCR responded to the needs
of the refugees and transferred some to settlement sites approximately 30
miles from the Angolan border.



USG HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

On November 5, 2001 the U.S. Ambassador to the DRC Aubrey Hooks redeclared
a disaster for the continuing complex emergency in the country.  USG
humanitarian assistance to the DRC has steadily increased since the
conflict broke out in 1998.

USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) provided more
than $21.9 million in the DRC in FY 2001, focusing primarily on health
services and food security programs. USAID/OFDA also supports emergency
market infrastructure rehabilitation and agricultural programs for
war-affected, vulnerable, and internally displaced persons.  Programs that
immediately provide assistance as well as projects that build local
capacity are integrated to promote livelihoods. An important component of
USAID/OFDA assistance is the funding of AirServ International to operate
three humanitarian aircraft. USAID/OFDA also supports two Emergency
Disaster Response Coordinators (EDRCs) in the DRC to monitor the
humanitarian situation throughout the country and make programmatic
recommendations to USAID/OFDA in Washington.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA/FAS) have provided
emergency food commodities in FY 2001. USAID/FFP has provided $14.2
million and USDA/FAS has provided $21.4 million in food commodities. The
commodities were provided through the WFP and the International Committee
for the Red Cross (ICRC) to assist war-affected and displaced vulnerable
populations.

As part of USAID's Integrated Health and Humanitarian Action Plan, USAID's
Africa Bureau provided approximately $15 million in health-related support
in FY 2001.  Specifically, the Plan seeks to deliver high impact health
services by promoting, where possible, development of the country's health
zones (each consisting of a referral hospital, health centers, and
community actions), and the management systems necessary to make them
work.  Other USG funds to support development activities are also being
provided.

The State Department's Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration
(PRM) provided $15.9 million in direct FY 2001 assistance to programs
targeting refugees and conflict victims inside the DRC. In addition to
these direct contributions, PRM provided $60 million of unearmarked
funding to UNHCR in Africa, and $45.1 million to ICRC in Africa, a portion
of which is used in the DRC. PRM also provided $17.6 million to support
330,000 DRC refugees and other refugee groups in neighboring countries.




U.S. GOVERNMENT HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE DRC

Agency
Implementing Partner
Sector
Location
Amount
FY 2001

USAID 	$50,744,995
USAID/OFDA  	$21,843,550


AirServ
Air delivery of relief aid/personnel

$3,401,419


Action contre la Faim (ACF/USA)
Food security
Lubumbashi, Katanga province
$993,080


ACF/USA
Food security
Kinshasa
$846,925


ACF/USA
Food security
South Kivu province
$568,489


ACF/USA
Health
Moba, Katanga province
$640,038


Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Health
Kabinda, Kasai Orientale
province
$152,319


CRS
Health
North Sankuru, Kasai Orientale province
$638,480


CRS
Flood mitigation
Lubumbashi, Katanga province
$40,814


UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Food security
Kinshasa
Lubumbashi, Katanga province
$626,000


Food for the Hungry International (FHI)
Food security
Kinshasa
$478,230


German Agro Action (GAA)
Food security
North Kivu province
$1,200,000


Interchurch Medical Association, Rural Health Program (IMA (SANRU))
Health
Bandundu, Bas Congo province Kasais, Equateur, Ituri, North Kivu provinces
$1,000,000


International Rescue Committee (IRC)
Health, water, food security, shelter
Kisangani, Orientale province
$1,792,046


IRC
Health, nutrition
Kabare, South Kivu province
$823,636


IRC
Umbrella grant for health, food security
South Kivu province
$1,060,155


IRC
Health, water, food security, shelter
South Kivu province
$2,181,632


IRC
Emergency IDP assistance
Kinshasa
$399,375


IRC
Water, sanitation
Kalemie, Katanga province
$1,692,915


Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin)
Health
Maniema province
$840,575


Save the Children/UK (SCF/UK)
Food security, livelihoods
Bunyakiri, South Kivu province
$899,928


UNICEF
Health
All
$1,000,000


World Vision Relief and Development (WVRD)
Health
Goma
$77,494


USAID/OFDA
Administrative support

$490,000


USAID/FFP   $14,244,300


WFP and ICRC
17,770 MT of corn, pinto beans, peas, vegetable oil, and corn-soya blend
  (CSB)
All
$14,244,300


USAID/Africa Bureau   $14,657,145



Health-related programs
All
$14,657,145


USDA   $21,398,000


WFP
24,500 MT of commodities (21,500 MT cornmeal, 3,000 MT vegetable oil)
All
$21,398,000


State/PRM   $15,909,406


ARC
Assistance for refugees and recently returned refugees
All
$272,463


ICRC
Assistance for IDPs
All
$1,500,000


ICRC
Regional funding
All
$45,100,000 *


IRC
Refugee assistance
All
$699,943


UNHCR
Assistance for refugees in the DRC and Congolese refugees in the region
All
$3,500,000


UNHCR
Assistance for refugees in the DRC, in response to UNHCR's Global Appeal
All
$2,220,000


UNHCR
Environmental initiatives in refugee hosting areas, assistance for refugee
  children, and refugee repatriation activities
All
$1,358,000


UNHCR
Regional funding
All
$60,000,000 *


UNICEF
Drug procurement in support of USAID's Rural Health (SANRU) program
All
$2,500,000


UNOCHA
Coordination and quick impact fund
All
$2,000,000


UN Security Coordinator's Office (UNSECOORD)
Establish a security infrastructure for relief operations
All
$500,000


WFP
PRRO for refugees in the DRC
All
$1,359,000


Total USG FY 2001   $88,052,401


* These funds are provided for activities to benefit refugees and
returnees throughout Africa and are not included in the total figures for
DRC.


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