U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
email: irin@ocha.unon.org
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN Weekly Round-up 48
25 November - 1 December



CONTENTS:

DRC: "One of world's worst humanitarian crises"
DRC: Fighting continues
DRC: Peace summit held in Maputo
CENTRAL AFRICA: UN envoy to assess spillover on CAR, RoC
BURUNDI: Mandela launches committee to monitor peace deal
BURUNDI: Little progress in Arusha
BURUNDI: Rebels urged to join peace process
RWANDA: New commission to examine border disputes
UGANDA: Thousands flee as rebels attack
UNITED NATIONS: Humanitarian appeals launched

DRC: "One of world's worst humanitarian crises"

The situation facing DRC was on Tuesday characterised as "one of the
world's worst humanitarian crises" in terms of both intensity and
magnitude. In a briefing to the UN Security Council, the acting UN
Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, spoke of the critical
humanitarian situation in the country, where civilians continue to flee
fighting amid a collapsing economy and poor access for relief workers. "As
the humanitarian situation becomes increasingly more grave for growing
numbers of Congolese, the efforts of the UN and its implementing partners
are being hampered by the lack of security, limited access to these
affected populations, and critically few resources for life-saving
interventions," she said. Underscoring the fact that humanitarian agencies
must be able to reach to those in distress, she urged Council members to
"impress upon all parties to the conflict the need for cooperation to
ensure full access to all areas of the DRC".

McAskie said that some 16 million people - or one third of the country's
population - were affected by the conflict. She cited a study by the
International Rescue Committee, an NGO, which found that up to 1.7 million
people, including some 600,000 children, had died as a result of the war
in eastern DRC alone. "About one third of those deaths are actually
attributable to violence; the rest are due mainly to preventable diseases
and malnutrition caused by the lack of access, the lack of assistance, and
the sheer inability of people to live a normal life," she said. "The
people of Congo are becoming exhausted, no longer able to cope with the
violence and impoverishment to which they are subjected on a daily basis."
She therefore stressed the importance of support for the UN's consolidated
appeal for the DRC, which aims to provide the country with immediate
life-saving support and to implement longer-term assistance programmes.

Meanwhile, a report issued by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kinshasa, said the humanitarian crisis in
the country had entered a new phase. In the beginning, the crisis had been
limited to a few distinct epicentres of humanitarian emergency, but
"currently, complex humanitarian crises cover more or less proportionally
the entire territory of the country", the report said. There were now over
2 million internally displaced people (IDPs). "Logistical miracles and
emergency operations in practically all parts of the country in 2000 have
failed to save the lives of vulnerable people affected by conflict," the
report said.

DRC: Fighting continues

Sources on the ground have warned of escalating violence around the
northeastern DRC town of Butembo. The village of Maboya, 25 km from
Butembo, had been "emptied of its citizens" due to constant fighting
between Mayi-Mayi militia and soldiers of the Rassemblement congolais pour
la democratie (RCD-ML), IRIN learnt.

The leader of the Mayi-Mayi rebels, "General" Padiri, has been given 30
days to lay down his arms. "We will take matters in our own hands and
fight him if necessary," a statement from the Batembo community, quoted by
the pro-government Rwandan 'New Times' newspaper, said. The ultimatum was
issued through the traditional head of the Batembo tribe, Katola Ndalemwa,
last week at Bunyakiri, north of Bukavu. The BBC reported that Ndalemwa
and traditional chiefs in his area had for some time been trying to
mediate with Padiri who is also from the Batembo community. "He no longer
has a just cause to fight for, but has instead been collaborating with the
Rwandan Interahamwe [militia] and turning his guns against his own
people," Ndalemwa said. He claimed over 2,000 Batembo had been killed by
the Mayi Mayi and Interahamwe.

Meanwhile, RCD-Goma has said that it is again in control of Pepa in
Katanga Province, southeastern DRC, as well as the localities of Kasongo
and Salamabila in Maniema, North Kivu, in the east. According to RCD's
secretary-general, Ruberwa, the places were recovered from the Interahamwe
and Mayi-Mayi militias during fierce battles last weekend. Ruberwa said a
top rebel army officer, Charles Okiti, was killed in the battle. Okiti had
been second in command of the Sixth Brigade in South Kivu Province, he
added. Fierce battles have been raging in Katanga for several weeks now
between government forces and its local and foreign allies on the one
hand, and RCD-Goma and their Rwandan allies on the other.

DRC: Peace summit held in Maputo

South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday chaired another summit of
regional African leaders in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, to try to get
the Lusaka peace process back on track. Presidents Laurent-Desire Kabila
and Robert Mugabe were present to represent DRC and its military ally,
Zimbabwe, while Kabila's other allies in the conflict, Namibia and Angola,
were represented by Prime Minister Hage Geingob and Defence Minister Kundi
Pahyama respectively, news organisations reported. Uganda and Rwanda,
which back the Congolese rebels opposing Kabila, were represented by
Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, the reports said. The summit
was the follow-up to a 16 October meeting in Maputo at which all the state
combatants in the DRC conflict (but not the rebel groups, who have not
been included in the Maputo summits) agreed withdraw their troops by at
least 15 km from the positions they held when they signed the Lusaka
accord in July 1999. That agreement has not been implemented.

During the meeting, Kabila promised greater freedom of movement for the UN
observers trying to oversee a ceasefire agreement, the BBC reported on
Monday. Mbeki said he was encouraged by the new pledge.  "President
Kabila's commitment to cooperate with MONUC [the UN Observer Mission] in
an open manner has been another step forward," Mozambican President
Joachim Chissano later said on Mozambican radio.

However, DRC state television said on Tuesday that the summit "did not
live up to the expectations of the Congolese people". The meeting had been
expected to discuss the results of initial deliberations since the 16
October summit, "but had been prevailed upon by Uganda and Rwanda to
discuss only one issue: the disarmament of the Rwandan Interahamwe
militia", the television said. Subsequently, on Wednesday, Kabila said
that UN demands for totally free movement for MONUC military observers
amounted to an invasion of the Congo's sovereignty, Reuters reported.
"With Ambassador Morjane [UN special envoy to the DRC, Kamel Morjane] it's
always a question of more freedom, in other words the scrapping of
sovereignty," it quoted Kabila as saying on Congolese state television.
But Kabila had added: "We will give what it is necessary to give," the
report stated.

CENTRAL AFRICA: UN envoy to assess spillover on CAR, RoC

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday appointed a special envoy to
the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic in order to "assess
the humanitarian, economic, political, social and security consequences of
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on these neighbouring
states." Amara Essy, who was president of the UN General Assembly in 1994
and is a former foreign minister of Cote d'Ivoire, is due to start his
mission on Saturday and report back to the Secretary-General on 18
December.

Meanwhile, Annan's Special Representative to the DRC, Kamel Morjane, on
Thursday welcomed the outcome of this week's Maputo summit and the
subsequent meeting of the parties to the Lusaka ceasefire agreement, which
helped pave the way for the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, a UN
press release stated. Morjane, who attended the two meetings, "expressed
hope that effective and comprehensive implementation of the disengagement
and redeployment plan would help resolve the crucial problem of ceasefire
violations, and lead the parties to withdraw their forces from the
frontlines to previously agreed positions," it added.

BURUNDI: Mandela launches committee to monitor peace deal

Burundi's peace process mediator, Nelson Mandela, on Monday inaugurated
the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC), which will oversee
implementation of the Arusha peace accord, signed on 28 August, the
Hirondelle news agency reported. He also announced that the chairman of
the new body would be the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative
for the Great Lakes, Berhanu Dinka. The IMC has 29 members comprising the
19 signatories to the accord, and representatives of donor countries, the
UN, the OAU, regional states and Burundi's civil society. Speaking in
Arusha, Tanzania, Mandela stressed that the IMC's function would be to
implement decisions taken by the signatories to the accord, and not to
negotiate. The IMC's temporary seat will be in Arusha, and will meet on
Tuesday under Dinka's chairmanship. "I would like all the outstanding
problems solved before the Paris [donor] conference on 11 and 12
December," Mandela told the delegates, underlining that this would create
a good environment for donors to make pledges to Burundi. The main
sticking points are leadership of the transitional period and agreement on
a ceasefire, and it is hoped these issues will be resolved by the time the
Arusha meeting ends on Wednesday, Hirondelle reported. Ambassador Dinka,
for his part, urged Burundians "to continue their forward march".

BURUNDI: Little progress in Arusha

Signatories to the Burundi peace accord met behind closed doors in Arusha
on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to tackle outstanding issues such as
leadership of the transitional period. However, according to the
Hirondelle news agency, they are already at stalemate, unable to agree on
the methodology for tackling this sticking point. One delegate said the
stumbling block lay in the text of the 28 August peace agreement, which
"contains no provision for the nomination of transitional leaders".  Three
sub-committees have been established to deal with the leadership issue, a
timetable for implementing the accord, and technical corrections to the
document.

BURUNDI: Rebels urged to join peace process

The mediation team involved in the Arusha peace process on Burundi on
Thursday urged rebel groups to lay down their arms. "To the belligerents,
I would like to make a special appeal that if the reason for taking to
arms was the restoration of democracy, we are now on the way to achieving
that, so it does not make any sense to ignore this development," the
independent Hirondelle news agency quoted the facilitator Nelson Mandela's
representative, Mark Bomani, as saying. Bomani was speaking at the close
of the latest round of peace talks in Arusha. "If they [the armed rebel
groups] have doubts on whether the agreement reached here will be
honoured, I think the answer is that the agreement will stick," Bomani
said. The Hutu rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and Conseil
national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense pour la
democratie (CNDD-FDD) have not been part of the formal peace process, and
did not sign the country's 28 August peace and reconciliation agreement in
Arusha.

RWANDA: New commission to examine border disputes

Rwanda intends to make new efforts to settle border disputes with its
neighbours, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda, news organisations reported on
Wednesday. "Rwanda has had frontier problems with Tanzania concerning a
peninsula in the River Akagera, which marks the border," AFP quoted
Rwanda's foreign minister, Andre Bumaya, as saying during the formation of
a commission to look into the claims. Bumaya also referred to frontier
problems with Burundi in the Kirundo area and, recently, in the forest
area of Nyungwe/Kibera. The areas at issue with Uganda are around the
Virunga volcanoes.

Bumaya blamed the problem on colonial powers, which, he said had moved
border markers to Rwanda's detriment. "Dialogue to settle the differences
will be held with strict respect for the inviolability of colonial borders
set out in international treaties," he said. "With the DRC, everything
will be solved under the framework of the Lusaka accords," Bumaya said,
reiterating that the commission would not be dealing with any territorial
disputes with the DRC for the time being.

UGANDA: Thousands flee as rebels attack

Over 3,000 people have fled their homes following an upsurge in attacks by
the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in western Uganda, the
independent 'Monitor' newspaper reported. It said ADF raids in Kabarole
District, launched on 21 November, had left six people dead, and local
officials were urgently appealing to the government for assistance.
Residents estimated the number of attackers at 200. They launched the
attacks from their bases in the Rwenzori mountains and were said to be
heading for Kibale National Park. The newspaper quoted local residents as
blaming the army for the attacks, saying they were too few in number to
defend the area adequately. The Ugandan army had been reducing its
presence in the area, reporting successes in flushing out rebel bases.

UNITED NATIONS: Humanitarian appeals launched

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday launched consolidated
interagency appeals for US $2.26 billion designed to alleviate the
suffering of more than 35 million people around the world. "That is less
than the world spends on military purposes in a single day," Annan said in
New York. "The people on whose behalf I speak do not want hand-outs: they
want a helping hand in their efforts to help themselves." Annan emphasised
the importance of well-funded and coordinated humanitarian action, citing
the example of East Timor, where a rapid and generous response by donors
helped to avert a crisis last year. But he noted that this year the UN had
received only 55 percent of the funds it sought. Flagging support for UN
appeals risked marginalising the organisation's efforts while increasing
the enormous burden borne by countries affected by humanitarian
emergencies.[For full story, see separate IRIN item of 28 November
headlined "UN: Over $2 billion sought to help millions worldwide"] Click
here:

In Brussels, the UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs,
Sergio Vieira de Mello, accused governments of responding "more and more
slowly and less and less generously". He told a news conference on
Wednesday that many contributions arrived too late. "We would like more
regular and more predictable contributions," he said, according to IRIN
sources attending the news conference. "In November 2000, the
contributions were inferior to those of November last year," he stressed.
"The appeals reflect current needs."

Nairobi, 1 December 2000


[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail:
irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]


[This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2000


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
Disaster Information Center             lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm
                                                     sitreps    nat-dsr
     web: www.cidi.org                               fireline
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central/East Africa  -  http://vwww.vita.org/humanitarian/irin/ceafrica