Dear partners/colleagues,
Please find attached our latest inter-agency weekly information bulletin “Humanitarian Action in the DRC” as of 04 November 2011, which is also pasted below for your convenience.
HIGHLIGHTS/ KEY PRIORITIES
· DRC has the lowest Human Development Index, UNDP report said
· Over 7 million children aged 5 to 17 do not attend school in DRC
· FAO and partners launched two-year-US$ 152 million Disasters’ Risk Management Action Plan
· The ICRC provided 565 emergency shelters and basic NFI to victims of torrential rains in South Kivu
To receive a weekly roundup of humanitarian news in DRC, please contact:
§ Yvon Edoumou (edoumou@un.org, +243 970 003 750)
§ Medard Lobota (lobota@un.org, +243 992 906 633)
§ Sylvestre Ntumba Mudingayi (ntumbamudingayi@un.org, +243 998 845 386)
All our documents are also available on our inter-agency humanitarian website for the DRC (http://www.rdc-humanitaire.net) as well as on ReliefWeb (http://www.reliefweb.int).
With best regards.
------------------------
Médard I. Lobota
HIS Senior Liaison Officer
Humanitarian Information Service - HIS
United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs - UNOCHA
Kinshasa/D.R.Congo
Tel. +243 (0) 99 290 66 33 / +243 (0) 81 000 6754
Website: www.rdc-humanitaire.net
Humanitarian Action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Weekly Bulletin, 04 November 2011
Produced with the support of the Humanitarian Information Group (HIG)
HIGHLIGHTS
· DRC has the lowest Human Development Index, UNDP report said
· Over 7 million children aged 5 to 17 do not attend school in DRC
· FAO and partners launched two-year-US$ 152 million Disasters’ Risk Management Action Plan
· The ICRC provided 565 emergency shelters and basic NFI to victims of torrential rains in South Kivu
General Overview
· DRC is at the bottom – 187th out of 187 countries – of the 2011 Human Development Report, an annual ranking of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to UNDP, DRC and nine other sub-Saharan African countries with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) still suffer from inadequate incomes, limited schooling opportunities, and life expectancies far below world averages due in great part to deaths from preventable and treatable diseases such as malaria and AIDS. The report argues that DRC’s problems are compounded by the destructive legacy of armed conflict, which has killed more than 3 million people directly or by conflict-linked illness. With more that 1.6 million internally displaced people (IDP) due to insecurity, the resurgence of epidemic-related diseases such as cholera, polio, measles and malaria, and the active presence of several armed groups in the east, DRC’s development challenges remain great. A recent analysis by food experts under the coordination of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that around 9 million people face food insecurity in the coming six months, and a bi-annual study on youths’ situation shows that over 7 million youth aged between 5 and 17 are out of the school system for the 2011- 2012 school-year.
Population Movements
· After the decline of the number of internally displaced people (IDP) from the first to the second quarters of 2011, statistics compiled by different provincial Populations Movement Commissions (PMC) as of 30 September show a 7% increase of the total IDP number compared to the situation as of the end June. From 1,540,804 IDPs on 30 June, the number of IDPs has increased by more than 103,000 people, raising the figure to 1,644,593 on 30 September. The augmentation results, on one hand, from the increase of nearly 17% of the displaced population in South Kivu and, on the other hand, from the inclusion of the overgrowing displaced population in Maniema. The situation by province is as follow: 536,299 IDP in North Kivu, 518,618 in South Kivu, 447 627 in Province Orientale, 78 714 in Katanga, 55,450 in Maniema and 12,785 in Equateur. The persistent population displacement in eastern DRC is caused by the insecurity related to armed conflict. Different military operations launched since early 2009 to stop armed groups’ activities have yet brought consistent result. In Equateur Province, the number of IDPs has halved compared to the situation in June.
Protection of civilians
· Eight students who were abducted on 22 October in Shabunda Territory in South Kivu allegedly by the Rwandan Democratic Liberation Front (FDLR), remained missing (at the time of publication). These students, from Baliga village, were arrested along with four others who subsequently managed to escape. FDLR accuse young men in the area of being members of opposition armed groups. While the feeble military presence of the Congolese army (FARDC) in this territory in recent months has contributed to the deterioration of the protection of civilians, the ongoing redeployment of the army in South Kivu could help improve the situation.
· An average 20 cases of sexual violence are recorded monthly in different health centers of the Health District of Buta in the northeastern Province Orientale. According to the district medical sources, civilians account for 95% of perpetrators. Medical personnel are worried as health centers do not have available medicines including Post-exposure prophylaxis kits (PEP) to treat the victims. Sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) are among abuses that civilians face regularly in war-torn eastern DRC.
Humanitarian Needs and Response
Education
· Over 7 million children aged 5 to 17 do not attend school in DRC, according to the preliminary findings of the 2011-2012 biannual study on the situation of children and adolescents outside the school. These represent 25% of primary school-aged children and 60% of adolescents. This study aims to accelerate efforts towards achieving universal primary education by 2015. The results of this study will enable policymakers and stakeholders in the Congolese education system, to enact policies and better formulate programs that reduce inequality in education in terms of access and quality. The study is conducted by the DRC Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education (EPSP), in partnership with the British Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
· To facilitate access to education for internally displaced children, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) distributed, on 26 and 27 October, 1,890 notebooks to displaced students in five schools of Shabunda Centre in South Kivu. As of 30 September, there were over 167,000 IDPs in Shabunda Territory.
Food Security and Livelihoods
· The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in partnership with specialized State services, UN agencies and NGOs, launched from 25 to 28 October, the action plan for the disasters’ risks management. This two-year plan aims to provide a better preparation and an effective response to food and agriculture threats and emergencies. Nationwide, the action plan requires US$ 152 million. Around 4 million people in the DRC are facing an acute food and livelihoods crisis while another 5 million could live under chronic food insecurity over the next six months, according to a recent assessment by food security actors. In November 2006, the National Nutrition Program (PRONANUT) revealed high malnutrition rates in many DRC provinces including Equateur, the two Kasai and Maniema.
· In Province Orientale, World Food Program (WFP) provided over 300 tones of food to NGOs Samaritan's Purse and Caritas to assist over 30,696 vulnerable people including IDP, returnees and host families. In total, over 6,000 households in the localities of Kpezu, Ndedu, Bitima, Kiliwa, Niangara and Djabir Faradje in the District of Haut-Uele will be assisted.
Health
· Health structures in Province Orientale are increasingly lacking essential drugs, a number of reports have indicated over the past weeks. Few weeks ago, Basoko and Yahuma Health Zones in the District of Tshopo were out of stock of essential drugs when they were confronted to a malaria epidemic. In Uele Districts, an evaluation conducted by the NGO MEDAIR in 10 health centres on the Ango – Api Axis revealed that most of them lack medicines, beds and other basic equipments necessary to improve the care to the sick. In Disolo Health Centre where the average monthly cases of malaria exceeded one hundred, medical staffs report that drugs are almost inexistent, which justifies the high fatality rate of malaria. The situation is particularly worrying as the province faces a number of potentially epidemic diseases. Furthermore, some health structures lack qualified personnel. These inadequacies limit their ability to care for patients, especially when epidemics break out.
· Tanganyika Health District authorities in the Province of Katanga and humanitarian health actors are highly concerned by the increase of polio cases and the extension of the epidemic in the district. After two confirmed cases in early October in the Health Zones of Kongolo to Ankoro, another case has been registered in the Nyunzu Health Zone. Since the beginning of this year, eight confirmed cases have been registered in the province, and over 85 cases nationwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that DRC is the most polio-affected country in Africa this year. From 20 to 22 October, 14 million children under-5 were targeted during the third round of national polio vaccination days. Another round of immunization against polio will be organized in 64 heath zones in DRC from 10-12 November.
Logistic
· Bafwasende Territory authorities in the District of Tshopo (Province Orientale) saluted the progress made by humanitarians in the rehabilitation of the Opienge Road long of 110Km. A section of 85 km has so far been opened to circulation by the NGO Caritas Germany. This Pooled Fund-funded project aims to improve humanitarian access to over 10,000 vulnerable people including IDP and returnees living in a very remote zone. The road rehabilitation would facilitate access to local markets where communities could sell their goods.
Shelter and Non Food Items (NFI)
· A humanitarian assessment mission in Sange (Uvira Territory in South Kivu reported the destruction of over 500 houses and three schools following torrential rains on the night of 26 to 27 October. Hundreds of affected households are currently living in host families and other are occupying a mosque in Nyakambere. In response to the needs of the affected households, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), through its local committee, has provided 565 emergency shelters and basic non food items.
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Editor,
Tariq Khattak, Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Tariq Khattak, Islamabad, Pakistan.
GSM = 0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Email: Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
Thanks for participating.
Kindly suggest improvements.
Please let us know:
I. If you want to receive individual emails
II. Receive one mail with all activity in it
III. Do not want to receive any mail at all
REQUESTS:
1) Please directly contact sender for personal/individual correspondence.
2) Try to discuss issues that will catch attention of many readers.
3) Please avoid sending messages in any language other than English
4) Avoid sending messages addressed to many recipients.
5) Do not send messages aimed at personal publicity.
6) Please do not send personal/other links unless necessary.
7) The Group is not obliged to publish printed news,
very short/long comments and objectionable material.
8) Every mail cannot be published; it will overload Mailboxes
of our valued members.
9) Try to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable, Unsympathetic and/or Unpleasant.
x==x==x==x==x==x
Please note that,
It is a common platform for journalists and all others who are interested in knowing about the issues that are sometimes not reported. This group favours philosophy of progress, reform and the protection of civil liberties. Please share and educate others. The owners and managers of this site do not necessarily agree with any of the information. It is an open forum; everyone is allowed to share anything. Mails sent by members and non-members are subject to approval. However, we are not responsible in any way for the contents of mails / opinion sent by members. We do not guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. (Nor can print and electronic media). If you find content on this site which you feel is inappropriate or inaccurate, incomplete, or useless you are most welcome to report it or contradict it.
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