U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 362
16 - 22 December 2006


CONTENTS:

DRC: More militiamen, dissident soldiers surrender - MONUC
ROC: Agencies appeal for US $28 million for the vulnerable
UGANDA-DRC: Congolese refugees moved to permanent camp
DRC-ANGOLA: UN agency begins repatriating Angolan refugees
CAR: Blame game as villages burn
KENYA: Alarming levels of child sex exploitation - UNICEF
UGANDA: Scores killed in forced disarmament in northeast
SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers


ALSO SEE:
DRC: Security crucial to Kabila's success
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56781]

TANZANIA: New drive for the environment in Zanzibar
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56766]

CAR: Tens of thousands of villagers on the run
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56785]


DRC: More militiamen, dissident soldiers surrender - MONUC

Several groups of militiamen and dissident soldiers have begun
surrendering their weapons to join a demobilisation, disarmament and
reintegration (DDR) process in the east of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, a United Nations official said.

Most of those surrendering are in the district of Ituri in Orientale
Province, and in South Kivu Province in the east, according to the
military spokesman for the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC), Lt-Col
Didier Rancher.

"The process is continuing this week," Rancher said on Wednesday in the
capital, Kinshasa.

Eastern DRC has remained one of the most volatile regions in the
country, with militias frequently involved in fighting against the
regular army.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56808]


ROC: Agencies appeal for US $28 million for the vulnerable

United Nations agencies and NGOs in the Republic of Congo (ROC) have
appealed for US $28 million to alleviate the suffering of thousands of
vulnerable people in the country next year.

The appeal, launched on Wednesday, covers 24 projects under 11 UN
agencies and other national and international humanitarian aid
organisations. These include projects in the sectors of health and
nutrition; water and sanitation; food security; protection; education;
and HIV/AIDS.

"The consolidated appeal is the result of an evaluation of the current
humanitarian situation in the country," Aurelien Agbenonci, the UN
Resident Coordinator, said during the launch. "This appeal is aimed at
ending the suffering of the population."

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56815]


UGANDA-DRC: Congolese refugees moved to permanent camp

At least 800 Congolese who fled recent fighting in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) have been moved from the DRC-Uganda border to a
camp further inland in southwestern Uganda, the United Nations refugee
agency, UNHCR, has said.

In a statement, the agency said on Tuesday that 300 of the refugees left
Nyakabanda transit site in Kisoso, also in the southwest of Uganda, for
the Nakivale Refugee Settlement camp in Isingiro District, 330 km away.
"This brings to 886 the total number of Congolese refugees transferred
to Nakivale since Sunday," Roberta Russo, the UNHCR spokeswoman in
Kampala, said.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56795]


DRC-ANGOLA: UN agency begins repatriating Angolan refugees

The first 50 of at least 1,800 Angolan refugees have left Kinshasa,
capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the northern Angolan
region of Mbanza Kongo, an official of the United Nations refugee
agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

"The UN Refugee Agency on Monday launched a new operation phase for the
repatriation of Angolan refugees living in the DRC," Jens Hesemann,
UNHCR officer in charge of external relations, said. He said the 50 were
among the group of Angolan refugees considered most vulnerable, who had
registered with the agency to return home before 30 December.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56792]


CAR: Blame game as villages burn

The burning and looting of villages across north-central Central African
Republic has scattered thousands of civilians from their homes while the
rebels and the army blame each other for aggravating the situation.

"The villagers are being held hostage by the rebels," Col Jean
Christophe Bureau, prefect of Kaga Bandoro, 300 km north of the capital,
Bangui, said. "Their animals and food are being stolen. All the villages
were burned by the rebels."

Bureau, who is officially in charge of the region, insisted that
government troops had often come under fire when passing through
villages in the area. "A highly intense military operation is needed to
overcome rebellion in the region", including air strikes, he said.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56782]


KENYA: Alarming levels of child sex exploitation - UNICEF

Sexual exploitation of children in Kenya has reached very high levels,
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated in a report launched
on Tuesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

A study by UNICEF and the Kenyan government found that at least 15,000
girls in four districts on the Kenyan coast - Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi
and Kwale - were engaged in casual sex-for-cash.

"These girls, aged 12 to 18 years, make up 30 percent of the total
population of girls from these districts in this age range," UNICEF
said. "A further two to three thousand girls and boys are involved in
full-time sex-for cash. Some of them are paid to perform the most
horrific and abnormal acts."

According to UNICEF, at least 45 percent of the girls in the survey
began selling sex for cash, goods or favours at only 12 or 13.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56788]


UGANDA: Scores killed in forced disarmament in northeast

More than 150 people, including woman and children, have been killed and
hundreds of others displaced in northeastern Uganda after clashes
between government soldiers and armed cattle herders in the past two
months, the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

"Following the government's resumption in May of its forced disarmament
programme to address insecurity created by the illegal possession of
firearms by some Karamojong members, the reporting period witnessed
deteriorating security conditions in Kotido, Kaabong and Abim caused by
confrontations between the UPDF [Uganda People's Defense Forces] and
Karamojong warriors," UNICEF said in a report.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56787]


SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers

More aid workers have been relocated in western Sudanese region of
Darfur following Monday's attack on Gereida, South Darfur State,
bringing the numbers of humanitarian staff moved in December to a record
400, the United Nations said.

The relocations are the highest in one month since a large-scale
humanitarian operation in Darfur began in 2004. Gereida has the largest
number of displaced people - 130,000 - in the region. About 20 armed men
attacked several NGO compounds, harassing staff and stealing vehicles,
communication equipment and money, the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.

[Full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56796]


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central/East Africa             www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/ceafrica