New Project Brings Relief in the Congo
Katanga, the southeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been affected by conflict between the government and local Mai Mai militias for more than a decade. Hundreds of thousands of Congolese have been left homeless by the fighting in this region, about the size of France, and more than 200,000 additional people have been displaced since November 2005 alone. Mostly farmers from rural communities, this group includes men, women and children who left to escape the fighting between government troops and local militias.
Children forced from their homes by the conflict are living at the Kyolo displacement camp.
Recently, people have started returning home to former conflict areas, particularly in the northern parts of Katanga. The flow of returnees picked up in mid-May after the surrender of Gedeon, a highly sought commander of a local Mai Mai militia. The flow of people heading home will continue in coming weeks and months, though some people have decided to wait until after the national elections scheduled for July 30, fearing the vote could spur violence.
Life for the Affected
Many of those who fled their homes have been lucky to find shelter in camps or with host communities. But that doesn't mean life is easy — families often end up sharing small huts with thatched roofs and no walls. Congolese who don't find refuge in such camps have been hiding in swamps, or in the bush.
Some markets stay open for less than an hour each day, simply because there is not enough food to sell, making the chronic food insecurity brought on by more than a decade of conflict even worse. To get by, some resort to eating the bark and rind of manioc or cassava plants, not part of a typical diet. Even people who were able to stay near their homes and fields have lost their crops, largely because the army forbids them from going to their fields, concerned that people in the open will collaborate with local Mai Mai militias. Often soldiers take away the crops to feed their own families.
Health conditions in this region are poor, as malaria and other dangerous diseases flourish in swampy and crowded environments. Rates of malnutrition and child mortality are high, and even in some camps, several children die each day. In addition, many of those who have fled their homes are traumatized, subject to violence, or forced into labor. Rape has been used as a weapon in the conflict, and women and girls have been dragged out of camps and assaulted in broad daylight.
A Bright Spot
A $1.2 million program funded by the British and Norwegian governments, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services and private donors started in April to bring some relief to people in this region. Collaborating with UNICEF, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and local Caritas organizations, CRS is the lead agency on the ground implementing this project, known as the "Rapid Response Mechanism." The Rapid Response Mechanism provides direct assistance and makes information about affected populations more quickly available to other aid agencies, United Nations groups, church organizations and the Congolese government.
People living at the Kyolo displacement camp receive desperately needed supplies.
Operations began in Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga, in April. At the end of the month, a CRS team and field agents from Caritas Katanga went to the Malemba-Nkulu area, where tens of thousands of people had been reportedly displaced by fighting had taken refuge in forests and swamps. The program was able to help 5,500 vulnerable families by distributing essential household items, such as blankets, cooking kits, plastic sheets, soap and mosquito nets.
Challenges
In this remote region, logistics is one of the formidable challenges the program faces. Getting the household items to the Malemba-Nkulu area, for example, required a four-day journey by truck, four days on barges in swampy areas near the Congo River and a week of shuttling between a storage warehouse and the distribution sites.Other challenges came up after distributions started. For example, CRS/Congo received several reports of unpaid Congolese soldiers taking distributed items from beneficiaries. But after CRS met with military representatives, such reports stopped.
