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 411
8 - 14 December 2007


CONTENTS:

DRC: Concern over conscription of children, human rights abuses in
   North Kivu
DRC-UGANDA: Ebola outbreak leads to border closure
DRC: Army suffers setback in offensive against rebels
BURUNDI: Boost for returnees
CONGO: State urged to improve "disastrous" healthcare system
UGANDA: Aid focus shifts to recovery
KENYA: "Revenge attacks and rumours" fuelling hostilities in Molo
KENYA: Thousands of IDPs in Mt Elgon need help, say officials

See Also
GLOBAL: Pledges put UN response fund within "touching distance" of 
target
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75864


DRC: Concern over conscription of children, human rights abuses in North 
Kivu

Insurgents loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda, fighting 
government troops in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC), are still recruiting children into their ranks, even as serious 
human rights violations, including some committed by agents of the 
state, are rife in the region, according to the UN Mission in Congo 
(MONUC).

"Forced recruitment [of children] took place outside schools, especially 
in the village of Burungu, when students returned to their homes, 
causing many to flee into the bush," Kemal Saiki, MONUC's spokesman, 
told reporters on 12 December.

In some cases, demobilised, underage former fighters are being 
re-recruited, according to the spokesman, who cited the case of 20 
children who had rejoined Nkunda's ranks in the North Kivu village of 
Kirambu.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75854


DRC-UGANDA: Ebola outbreak leads to border closure

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have closed 
the lake and land border with Uganda and shut down two markets as a 
precautionary measure to prevent the spread of Ebola from its neighbour.

Several dozen traders in the areas of Beni and Butembo in DRC's North 
Kivu province have been placed under quarantine after visiting Uganda. 
The Ebola virus has an incubation period of 21 days.

"We closed the border five days ago and also shut two markets - Kasindi 
and Watakingi - where traders coming from Uganda sell their 
merchandise," said Marcel Katembo, the officer in charge of public 
health in Beni and Butembo.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75856


DRC: Army suffers setback in offensive against rebels

Troops loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC) have regained control of the town of Mushake in 
the eastern North Kivu province, which they had lost to government 
forces less than a week earlier, military sources said.

UN-supported Radio Okapi quoted the deputy commander of government 
troops in North Kivu, Colonel Delphin Kahimbi, as admitting the army had 
suffered some setbacks.

The UN Mission in DRC, MONUC, was more specific, with Major Prem Kumar 
Tiwari, MONUC's spokesman in Goma, North Kivu's capital, saying: 
"Nkunda's troops have taken up positions around Mushake and Mushake 
itself. The regular army is no longer present there."

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75811


BURUNDI: Boost for returnees

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) are to run 
a joint programme to improve the reintegration conditions for returnees, 
a UNHCR official in Bujumbura said.

The European Union granted 10 million Euros (US$15 million) to the 
agencies, with UNHCR taking two-thirds to fund the reintegration 
programme for 2008-2009. About 125,000 returnees, including 15,000 
people expelled from Tanzania, will be assisted.

According to Andreas Kirchhof, UNHCR public relations officer, the 
agency expects the programme to "encourage voluntary repatriation but 
also improve the conditions of returnees back home as they will have the 
possibility of getting a shelter".

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75829


CONGO: State urged to improve "disastrous" healthcare system

Under-funding and lack of political will have left Congo's healthcare 
system in a "disastrous" state, according to a human rights group, which 
has called on the government to match its public declarations with 
action.

"Today we appeal for things to change in the healthcare sector because 
there is a wide gulf between the authorities' speeches and reality," 
Cephas Germain Ewangui, head of the Association Panafricaine Thomas 
Sankara (APTS), said on 10 December, as he released the results of his 
NGO's study of the country's healthcare facilities. "We are witnessing a 
disaster," he said.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75823


UGANDA: Aid focus shifts to recovery

The return of relative calm to northern Uganda after two decades of 
devastating civil war has set in motion the return of about one million 
displaced civilians and highlighted the importance of funding 
post-conflict recovery, a key focus of the country's US$374 million 
Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for 2008.

"We have made a conscious shift away from traditional humanitarian 
programming towards recovery in the awareness that 97 percent of 
formerly displaced people in Lango sub-region have completed the return" 
to their home districts, Kristen Knutson, public information officer 
with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 
in Uganda told IRIN.

"With the goal of ensuring a seamless transition to recovery, neither 
humanitarian donors nor response organisations can afford to cease their 
support until the IDPs have completed the return process," the appeal 
document added. To this end, $33.5 million of the appeal is geared 
towards governance, infrastructure and livelihoods.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75808


KENYA: "Revenge attacks and rumours" fuelling hostilities in Molo

Revenge attacks, rumours, inaccurate media reports and provocative 
public statements by politicians have fuelled hostilities in Kenya's New 
Molo district, where clashes have displaced thousands of people and 
caused dozens of deaths, according to a government official.

"As a result of the tension among the three communities in the district, 
opportunists have taken advantage of the fluidity of the situation to 
fuel hostilities," Mohamud Salim, the district commissioner, told a UN 
delegation in Molo town.

"The problem now is that many people have fled their homes," he said. 
"We do not have an exact number of the displaced as we are still 
collecting the data but many of the IDPs [internally displaced persons] 
are now in at least 20 sites in and around Molo town."

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75820


KENYA: Thousands of IDPs in Mt Elgon need help, say officials

Thousands of civilians displaced by violence related to land disputes in 
Mt Elgon, western Kenya, need urgent assistance, according to local 
leaders.

"About 50 houses were destroyed today [10 December] in three villages in 
Cheptais division," Wycliffe Chongin, a local church leader, told IRIN 
at Kapsokwony, the Mt Elgon District headquarters, after local officials 
met UN representatives.

During the meeting, chaired by District Commissioner Birik Mohamed, 
several leaders said little effort had been made to help the displaced, 
especially those who had sought refuge in neighbouring districts.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75804


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