DRCongo - DHA: 01.Nov-31.Dec.97
DRCongo - DHA: 01.Nov-31.Dec.97
DHA Humanitarian Situation Report
(covering November and December 1997)
Produced by the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for
Congo-Brazzaville.
January 1998
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT
Humanitarian Overview
1. On 5 June 1997 a five-month of civil war began which ravaged
Brazzaville and affected many other parts of the country. Brazzaville's
crowded neighbourhoods were pounded by indiscriminate shelling and aerial
bombing, emptying the capital of practically all its population. Some
5-10,000 people were killed by the war and over 650,000 people displaced.
In November the United Nations system led a rapid Inter-Agency assessment
of the situation in Brazzaville. This mission produced a Flash Appeal for
US $17.7 million covering the areas of food and food production, health
and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, coordination and security.
2. Today, to many outsider observers, as well as many humanitarian actors
involved in providing assistance to those populations in need, the worst
of the emergency is over. However, given the absence of a comprehensive
overview of the present situation, there is no exact understanding of the
nature and definition of the current humanitarian needs. The country
appears delicately poised between what might be called a post-emergency
and pre-recovery phase. It is feared that unless action is taken to
assist in the move towards a state of normality, the country could revert
to a state of dire humanitarian need.
3. Since the war ended two months ago, signs of progress are apparent in a
number of areas, people have returned to the capital in greater numbers
than originally expected, water has been partially restored in
Brazzaville, and food to meet basic subsistence needs is available.
However, such positive external signs of normal life may conceal deeper
problems and thus must be interpreted or acted on with great prudence.
Caution has to be exercised when viewing the picture presented by
Brazzaville today. It may not accurately reflect the real situation, and
definitely does not reveal the extend of the distress of families and
communities as a result of their losses over the months of civil war. The
full impact of these months of turmoil has yet to be fully appreciated,
especially given the widespread looting of the capital and many smaller
towns. Of special concern is the violence which was perpetrated against
women.
Special Points
4. According to an OXFAM census, close to 70 percent of the Congolese
nationals who fled Brazzaville have returned. This is a significant
increase when compared to the less than 30 percent who were to be found in
the capital when the civil war ceased. However, a number of very specific
areas of the city, previously inhabited by people originating from the
southern regions of the country, remain almost totally empty, and
questions exist as to the origin of those who have returned. Furthermore,
few children are seen on the street of the capital, reflecting the fact
that many have remained in the home villages to which their parents fled
during the fighting. For those returning to the areas within the city most
affected by the war, questions remain as to whether they have the
financial and other resources necessary to begin repairing their homes and
replacing lost possessions.
5. The West African community which constituted the backbone of the
economy of Poto-Poto has yet to return, as have diplomatic and development
agency personnel, and small-scale investors. These three latter groups
lived in the centre of the city, which today is heavily destroyed and was
the focus of significant looting.
6. In Brazzaville commercial activity is slowly resuming, but this only at
street market levels with limited supplies. Prices are apparently more
than twice their pre-war levels and the ability of individuals to access
the markets have yet to be known.
Other forms of commercial activity including foreign investment remain
negligible. Multinational oil companies on the other hand are providing
substantial support to the government in the form of liquidity and
contribute to the provision of such basic services as mobile health
clinics.
7. The Government organised in Brazzaville the payment of two months
worths of salary arrears owed to civil servants. This has no doubt eased
the financial squeeze for those civil servants in the country who were not
afraid to come and collect their salary. For the others however, the drain
on individual family income, which the civil war and its aftermath have
imposed, may make it difficult to maintain adequate nutrition. Moreover,
it should be recalled that the Republic of Congo has traditionally been a
net food importer (for 40 percent of its needs), having never encouraged
the development of local agriculture.
8. The greatest assistance offered to those civilian populations most
affected by the civil war was provided by the families and relatives of
these populations. Large numbers of people moved back to their villages of
origin and lived off the generosity of their kinsmen. It has even been
suggested that the tragic events may have reinforced traditional family
ties which had been weakened through the rapid and large-scale
urbanisation of society. The impact of these additional consumers on
village reserves has yet to be gauged.
The Transition Challenge
9. Outside support to sustain a nascent recovery and reconciliation
process is of critical importance. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
geared primarily to operating in a classic emergency crisis situation, are
pulling out of the Republic of Congo, leaving a gap that will need to be
filled.
10. The timid response to date of the international community to the Congo
Brazzaville crisis further underscores the concern that donor commitments
towards reconstruction may not be readily forthcoming. It is to be hoped
that the conclusions of the Forum for the Reconciliation, Unity,
Democratisation and Reconstruction of the Congo will reconcile the present
Government with the international community.
11. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator has thus decided to initiate a review
of the humanitarian situation throughout the country with the objective of
elaborating a post-crisis humanitarian strategy. This undertaking will be
directed by the Ministry of l'Action Humanitaire, with the support of the
Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, and include all humanitarian
partners. The review exercise will produce a document at the end of
January which would present the humanitarian situation in the Republic of
Congo, and serve as the basis for the elaboration of a post-crisis
Humanitarian Strategy, which in turn will support the further elaboration
of a more important reconstruction and rehabilitation strategy. In this
context, inter-agency assessment missions are planned to be undertaken
16-30 January.
Sectorial Information
REPATRIATIONS AND RETURNS
12. As a result of the fighting in and around Brazzaville, some 40,000
refugees fled to neighbouring Kinshasa and were placed in a camp at
Kinkole. In December, UNHCR began the repatriation of some 2,400
refugees. This was in addition to the 9,600 refugees previously assisted
by UNHCR. A total of approximately 38,000 refugees are registered to
return. WFP is providing to those returning a one-month food package.
13. In Kintele camp, north of Brazzaville, some 5,000 internally displaced
have received plastic sheeting and jerry cans from the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition, ICRC plans to distribute
blankets, jerry cans, soap, tarpaulins and cooking utensils to 15,000
people who have lost everything and who are entirely dependent on external
support in the four hardest-hit areas of Brazzaville.
NUTRITION AND HEALTH
14. The Inter-agency team found in November that much of the health system
of the country had collapsed and that the health infrastructure in the
capital had been destroyed. Since then, with the assistance of the
humanitarian community, much of the infrastructure in the capital has been
repaired, while the health system throughout the country, specifically as
concerns the provision of drugs and resources, has yet to be fully
restored.
15. WFP reported that cases of malnutrition were regularly registered in
the different health centres in Brazzaville and said the most affected
people were under-fives with oedemas (distended bellies). The agency
concluded that if a general nutritional survey was conducted a lot of
cases would be found among this category of the population. Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) commenced a survey in December and its results, once
known, should make it possible for WFP to review its strategy with the WHO
and UNICEF in order to ensure that its operations target the most
vulnerable people. Meanwhile, the NGO Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in
collaboration with Caritas, is setting up nutritional centres, even before
the results of the MSF survey are known.
16. A measles vaccination campaign is planned for early January with
UNICEF utilising Merlin as an implementing partner.
17. A weight/height survey conducted recently by the Sisters of Charity in
Makelekele hospital revealed that 20 percent of the children there were
suffering from severe malnutrition and that a therapeutic feeding
programme was needed to combat the illness.
18. The ICRC has restored a capacity of 250 beds to the Brazzaville
University Hospital, which maintained a pre-war capacity of 975 beds. The
weekly number of outpatient consultations at the hospital is around 1,200.
The hospital had previously received emergency assistance from the French
government. In addition, the ICRC has assisted in the rehabilitation of 25
of the 27 health centres which existed in the capital before the war. All
should be functional before the end of January, and the ICRC will continue
supporting them sometime into early-mid 1988.
19. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF developed a
programme to help victims of sexual violence to recover. The project is to
be supported by WHO. Similarly the NGO International Rescue committee
(IRC) is currently undertaking a survey of the extent of such needs with
the support of a "social psychologist". A common methodology and approach
are to be developed.
WATER AND SANITATION
20. It was only in the early days of peace in Brazzaville that WHO and the
Congolese Red Cross were able to address the problem of hygiene and bury
many of those killed by the fighting. A major effort was undertaken to
control the spread of any related diseases.
21. OXFAM left end-December after concluding the provision of drinking
water was back to pre-war levels. A public health engineering team
reported that with a water treatment plant at Djiri back on stream
following an electrical problem some 65 percent of Brazzaville now
received water. The figure fell to 20 percent just after the war. Some 55
percent of the water sources in the capital are considered polluted and/or
necessitating some form of treatment before being utilised.
22. IRC continued with the rehabilitation with the rehabilitation of
Talangai hospital, but said it also now planned to expand a sanitation
programme into the surrounding neighbourhood.
23. The ICRC has delivered seven 10-15,000 litre bladders to integrated
health centres, a further seven are planned to be delivered to those areas
within Brazzaville which remain without water.
EDUCATION
24. An attempt was made to open schools on 7 December. The effort was of
limited success as the timing of the opening coincided with the payment of
outstanding salaries to civil servants, of whom teachers are part.
Furthermore, classes located in certain areas of the city were very
sparsely filled.
25. A UNICEF survey of primary schools in Brazzaville found that more than
50 percent of classrooms are in bad condition and that in Poto-Poto almost
80 percent of the classrooms can not be used. UNICEF and the UNESCO have
been providing classrooms kits. Little is known of the situation
prevailing in village schools.
26. As part of its peace education initiative UNESCO undertook a mission
to Brazzaville in December. Discussions were held with senior government
officials on the government's information needs and the support that the
agency could offer in promoting messages of reconciliation.
SHELTER
27. The Inter-Agency team estimated in November that some 50,000 people in
Brazzaville had been left shelterless as a result of the war. Many more
were left with houses almost completely looted. CRS and Caritas are
finalising the collection of data on the number of people left homeless as
a result of the events. The Congolese Red Cross in collaboration with the
ICRC is distributing plastic sheeting to some 130,000 people in
Brazzaville. During the war they also distributed plastic sheeting to
displaced populations.
28. UNCHS (Habitat) is planning in January to field an assessment mission
to review the needs and identify the modalities of their intervention. UNV
is currently identifying a candidate to serve as an advisor to the UN
Humanitarian Coordinator on the emergency rehabilitation of individual
housing.
29. The government reported flooding in the regions of Epina and Likouala
as well as in the district of Makoua Ntokou in north Congo. In Mossaka
4-6,000 people are reported to have been left shelterless by the floods.
UNICEF, CRS, Caritas and the Congolese Red Cross are assembling for
distribution the necessary relief materials, including medical supplies,
shelter materials, blankets and jerry cans.
COORDINATION
30. The Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator was established in
November 1997 to assist in the coordination of the humanitarian response.
The office is supported by UNDP. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator chairs a
weekly coordination meeting.
31. With the support of UNICEF, the ministry of Humanitarian Action
established a working group on the issue of shelter. Three sectorial
working groups are now operational in addition to the biweekly
humanitarian coordination meeting. The working groups include HEALTH,
chaired by WHO which meets every first and third Wednesday of the month,
FOOD SECURITY, chaired by FAO which meets every Friday, and SHELTER,
chaired by the ministry of Humanitarian Action which meets every Monday in
the ministry.
32. In order to facilitate the movement of personnel between Brazzaville
and Kinshasa, WFP will operate a speed boat purchased by UNDP. A
communications system, including a radio net, is in the process of being
set up with the support of WFP telecommunications experts. A facility was
initially established in the UNICEF compound, which had suffered
significantly less from the lootings and other war related destructions.
Security
33. The security situation in Brazzaville has significantly improved.
Armed security forces have been integrated into different units, police,
gendarmeries, and regular army. Very few non-uniformed people are seen
carrying arms. However, acts of violence continue to take place from time
to time, despite operations to collect arms and ammunition. Regular
meetings are held between the UN Humanitarian Coordinator (in the capacity
as Designated Official), and the military and police authorities.
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