OCHA Situation Report
DR Congo
17 September 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Humanitarian organisations have been able to bring assistance to
vulnerable families in Mushaki - 12 km north of Sake in Masisi district
- who had remained inaccessible for the past three weeks. Access to
other areas where there are IDPs reported in Masisi and Rutshru remains
difficult due to uncertain security conditions. CONTEXT

No major breach has been reported but no party has yet made a move
towards starting political negotiations to find a settlement.

Foreign journalists travelling in Masisi were detained a few hours on
14th September in Sake by the Congolese army and national police on
their way back to Goma. Their equipment was confiscated for a few days
and returned to them before leaving the country.

POPULATION MOVEMENTS

No new population movements have been recorded in the past days.
However, the actual evolution of the situation in several areas of the
Petit Nord region remains unknown, largely due to the lack of access.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Registration and distribution of food and non-food items for 65,000 IDPs
in Mugunga area are now completed. Healthcare and nutritional services,
trucking of drinking water as well as support to unaccompanied children
are being provided daily.

The Congolese government announced that it will distribute an additional
10,000 MT of food and non-food items to IDPs in Mugunga and Bulengo.

OCHA has fully established a humanitarian antenna in Minova (South Kivu)
to help facilitate deployment of humanitarian partners in the area with
an increased capacity and to coordinate assistance delivered to IDPs
arriving in the area.

NGO Solidarites was able to deliver assistance to IDPs gathered in
Mushaki (Masisi district). A convoy of 11 trucks brought non-food items
and water/sanitation equipment to the 2,114 families registered.
Distribution was completed today.

A UN/NGO inter-agency mission is evaluating conditions of populations in
the area Rutshuru-Nyamilima. Preliminary observations appear to indicate
that some IDP families from Kinyandoni displacement site are returning
to Katiguru and Kiseguro from where they had fled in March-April. The
mission will complete their rapid assessment work on Wednesday, 19th
September.

Contacts:

Patrick Lavand'homme, Head of Office, Goma (North Kivu), OCHA-DR Congo
Email: lavandhomme@un.org
Tel: +243 (0) 819 889 165

Christophe Illemassene, Senior Public Information Officer, Kinshasa,
OCHA-DR Congo
Email: illemassene@un.org
Tel: +243 (0) 819 889 195

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