DRCongo - ICRC-97/10: 02.Jul.97
DRCongo - ICRC-97/10: 02.Jul.97
ICRC
Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire)
No. 97/10
2 July 1997
More than six weeks after Kinshasa was taken over by forces of the Alliance
of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL), significant
humanitarian problems persist in most of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. For the most part, these problems are related directly to the ongoing
disturbances in Kivu province and to the fate of internally displaced people
from Kivu and Rwandan refugees. The ICRC, in close cooperation with the Red
Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is continuing the
activities it carried out throughout the conflict.
Protection for detainees
In spite of ongoing negotiations with the new authorities, ICRC delegates
have not yet been granted access to detainees.
Restoring family links
Although the ADFL offensive is formally over, thousands of internally
displaced are still far away from their villages of origin. In many cases,
the Red Cross Message system is the only means of communication that enables
separated families to exchange news. As a result, thousands of messages are
collected and distributed every week. In the east of the country, efforts
are ongoing in the towns of Goma, Bukavu and Uvira to locate both Rwandan and
Zairian unaccompanied minors and to take the steps necessary to reunite them
with their families. In Goma, 94 unaccompanied Zairian children were
located, and 13 family reunifications carried out in one week alone.
Delegates have also been trying to persuade Congolese families looking after
Rwandan children to hand them over to the ICRC. If the families agree, the
children are transferred to Rwanda, where they are looked after by the local
ICRC delegation.
Thanks to painstaking work, an average of five family reunifications is
carried out every week. In their efforts to find children's families,
delegates have started using unusual methods: in Bukavu, for example,
information about unaccompanied children is now broadcast by a local radio
station.
Health activities
Health needs throughout the country remain enormous. Special support
continues to be given to medical structures in and around Uvira, Bukavu,
Goma, Kindu, Kisangani and Mbandaka, where assistance is required most
urgently. As a general rule, medical activities will concentrate on places
where the ICRC has a subdelegation or office. For flexibility, short-term
projects will be favoured.
In recent weeks, regular visits were carried out to hospitals and health
centres in and around Kisangani, Bukavu and Uvira. Medical supplies and
other materials, such as mattresses, were provided as necessary. Health
advice, for example on hygiene, was given wherever medical delegates consider
it appropriate.
A total of 14 urban and rural health centres in Kisangani was evaluated by an
ICRC medical coordinator. On the basis of the assessment, a project will be
launched together with the Belgian Red Cross. Meanwhile, in Mbandaka,
delegates continued to rehabilitate the obstetric ward, provide health care
for internally displaced people and follow up the treatment of war-wounded.
Evaluations were also carried out in Boende and Ikela, whose hospitals were
stripped bare during the conflict. An assistance programme is being
implemented.
In Kinshasa, war-wounded in five medical facilities were followed up by
medical staff from the National Society. To improve medical care for
children, paediatric kits were donated to seven health structures.
To assist hospitals treating war-wounded in Brazzaville, the capital of the
neighbouring Republic of Congo-Brazzaville, more medical materials and
medicines were brought in by ICRC or National Society staff travelling either
by plane or dugout.
Water and sanitation
A total of six ICRC water and sanitation engineers are currently working in
the country. In Bukavu, the ICRC came to the rescue last week after a
landslide buried the town's only water supply pipe, leaving some 300,000
people without access to safe drinking water. The state water company, with
the support of the ICRC, is currently repairing the damaged main pipe.
Emergency work has been carried out on two smaller pipes, through which water
will be supplied in the short term. The ICRC is financing transport and
labour costs and providing various materials. Before the accident it had
already been supplying fuel to power the treatment plant generator.
The inhabitants of the town of Isiro, north-east of Kisangani, had been
without safe drinking water since early January. Starting on 2 June,
however, the ICRC was able to restore the water supply: to put the local
water treatment plant back into operation, delegates brought in 11 tonnes of
aluminium sulphate, 3,400 litres of diesel fuel and spare parts for the water
pumps. They also connected a provisional water reservoir to the supply
network.
In Goma and Uvira the ICRC is supplying fuel for the generator powering the
towns' water treatment plants. An 18 m3 water tanker was transferred from
Rwanda to Bukavu to improve drinking water supplies for internally displaced
people returning from Kalemie. On the Ruzizi plains, water and sanitation
teams continued to construct septic tanks in numerous communes and to install
the necessary pumping equipment. Water catchment work and latrine
disinfection in Kisangani were pursued unchanged.
Relief
Food and non-food assistance continued to be provided to refugees from
Brazzaville, who have sought shelter in Kinshasa. Some internally displaced
people in Kisangani also received food relief. In addition, despite the
situation in Brazzaville, further food assistance consisting of maize, beans,
salt and oil was flown by Twin Otter plane to Lukolela, a town in the
Republic of Congo-Brazzaville. The food was then transported to Liranga, a
village to the north of Lukolela, which is currently home to some 5,900
Rwandan refugees.
The Kinshasa delegation also organized food assistance for war-wounded in
Brazzaville. Maize, beans, salt and oil were taken to the strife-torn city
by plane and boat, partly with the assistance of Congolese Red Cross staff.
In Mbandaka, food is provided for 200 refugees admitted to the local
hospital, as well as to internally displaced people and unaccompanied minors
awaiting transfer to Kisangani.
Lastly, following an assessment of the nutritional situation in the highland
areas south of Bukavu and the region of Fizi, food and seed distributions are
planned for an estimated 5,000 internally displaced people near Fizi and up
to 10,000 internally displaced Babembe in the hills of Kaseka.
Adjustment of ICRC operational structure
When the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo started, the
westward movement of the ADFL forces split the country into two parts. In
order to maintain its operational effectiveness in ADFL-held areas, the ICRC
established a mission in Bukavu, in the east of the country, in addition to
the main delegation in Kinshasa. Now that the entire country has been taken
over by the ADFL forces, the ICRC has adjusted its operational structure
accordingly. The ICRC delegation, as well as all coordinators, most of whom
were previously located in Kivu province, will be based in the capital
Kinshasa. The towns in which the ICRC is present, namely Bukavu, Goma,
Uvira, Kalemie, Lubumbashi, Kanangu, Kisangani and Mbandaka, will become
sub-delegations or offices of Kinshasa. Congo-Brazzaville will remain a
sub-delegation of Kinshasa until further notice.
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