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Security situation precarious in South Kivu06 November 2003 The security situation remains precarious in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to UN sources, outbreaks of fighting have been reported in South Kivu region and as many as 4000 people may have become displaced as a result. This will lead to a further destabilization of an already insecure situation in the province in which there are an estimated 75,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as returnees from displacement in other areas of the DRC, Congolese refugees returning from Tanzania and Rwandan refugees fleeing the unstable situation in their country.
Food security is a major issue. Many fields remain uncultivated because their owners have fled or because they are reluctant to risk losing another harvest to rebel forces on the rampage, too often the case in past years. A lack of basic infrastructure means that people need food, shelter, clean water and basic health care. However much of the country remains cut off from vital supplies and can only be accessed by river or by roads such as this (see photo right). South Kivu Province lies to the north east of Katanga Province where UMCOR DRC is implementing the majority of its programs including a food security program in the Lake Mweru region. (Statistics from www.irinnews.org) |
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The DRC has experienced
nearly a decade of conflict leaving behind a tragic legacy of death, destruction and displacement. There are already around 250 different ethnicities living in the
country but the large numbers of IDPs, Congolese returnees and refugees from neighboring countries are adding to an increasingly tense state of affairs.