Title - Democratic Republic of the Congo: IDPs and Returnees in the Eastern Provinces (as of March 2007) Source - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Format - pdf ; 367k Date - 20 Apr 2007 URL Address - http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JBRN-72FDTY?OpenDocument
Please find the following op-ed by Oxfam
Maintain the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The
By Raymond C. Offenheiser and Mark L. Schneider
The UN Peacekeeping Mission for the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) played a critical role in bringing a semblance of peace to Ituri, protecting civilians from violence and securing the country for successful democratic elections last November. Despite such progress after years of war, the DRC remains extremely fragile. If the Bush administration pushes for UN peacekeepers to pull out too soon, violence could once again take root.
Four million civilian deaths have been linked to the eight-year conflict in the DRC, costing more lives than any other conflict since World War II. The debate on the decision to extend the UN Mission's mandate, which ends on May 15, has been under way for weeks, but no consensus has been reached on what the postelection peacekeeping mission will look like. An immediate extension through Dec. 31, as requested by the UN secretary-general, should be the minimum time frame.
It is more worrisome that some still want to reduce the number of troops and weaken their ability to keep the peace. Both would be tragic mistakes for a country that already has seen too much tragedy.
This first year following Joseph Kabila's election is crucial for building stability for future generations. However, aftershocks continue to shake the tenuous peace. Just a few weeks ago, fighting broke out in
Former
The administration's budget projects a nearly $90 million cut – almost 35 percent – in the
The UN mission has in-creased humanitarian access, making possible the first Congolese elections in 40 years, and it now must build on that peace by taking on security sector reform. Rwandan and Ugandan rebels still operate in the DRC, several thousand Congolese militiamen continue to control isolated areas in the east, and the Congolese Army too often abuses the people it is meant to protect. Chiefs in the lakeside villages of Tchomia and Kasenyi recently told Oxfam that if the UN peacekeeping force were to close its base and stop patrols, the people would leave tomorrow because it simply would no longer be safe – at least not yet.
The International Crisis Group in
There is one constant lesson in post-conflict peacekeeping: Weakening a UN mandate and pulling troops out too soon almost always guarantees a return to war. This is precisely what occurred in
• Raymond C. Offenheiser is the president of Oxfam
Diplomatic heads from the three nations participated in the meeting, which will relaunch an organisation begun in 1976 but inactive because of war and rebellion that has plagued the region.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht was also in
"We are going to relaunch the CEPGL. The revival of economic cooperation between
"The CEPGL has been active in the past, but the war that has ravaged the region has brought its activity to almost zero," he said.
The relaunch program includes a budget for the first year of 970,000 dollars, financed primarily by
The organisation will permit the free movement of people and goods within the region, and plans to create a regional bank and an institute for agricultural research.
The Great Lakes Countries were plagued by violence in the 1990s, with the beginning of the ongoing civil war in
esd/mc/bd/smc
Copyright (c) 2007 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 04/17/2007 10:57:37
©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.
Refugees International has produced two short videos that show the beauty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the daily activities of local villages, and the challenges the people face as they rebuild. The nation is entering a moment of hope after suffering one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last half century. Four million people have died since 1998 and 1.5 million people remain displaced from their homes today. Still, hundreds of thousands of people are returning home and trying to rebuild their lives. As peace returns and the recently elected government stabilizes the country, these two videos call for more action. "Recovering from War" shows a village in the center of the country that desperately needs support from UN agencies and "Returning Home" calls on the international community to help refugees return home.
| |  |  |  |
World Bank plans to increase timber production in Congo threaten the environment and ignore the rights of forest dwellers.
By Jean-Roger Kaseki, March 19, 2007 9:00 AM,
In 2004, more than 100 environment, development, and human rights groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo called on the World Bank to stop plans that would carve up the world's second-largest rainforest into industrial logging concessions.
Plans for the development of the forests would have major repercussions on the rights and livelihoods of millions of Congolese citizens, with serious and irreversible impacts on the forest environment.
The Congo is the Earth's second largest river by volume and has the world's second largest rainforest (18% of the planet's remaining tropical rainforest). The Congo Basin represents 70% of the African continent's plant cover and makes up a large portion of Africa's biodiversity with over 600 tree species and 10 000 animal species. Six nations - Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon - share the 1.5 million square mile Congo basin.
The Congo is one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. Commercial logging, clearing for subsistence agriculture, and widespread civil strife has devastated forests, displaced forest dwellers, and resulted in the expansion of the "bushmeat" trade. Since the 1980s, Africa has had the highest deforestation rates of any region on the globe.
Source: Reuters Foundation
Date: 29 Mar 2007
By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The World Bank board on Thursday approved $180 million to help rebuild the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, and said it would go ahead with project plans despite recent deadly violence.
Pedro Alba, the bank's country director to Congo, said the fighting between a former rebel faction and government troops in Kinshasa was regrettable, but added that the poor should not have to suffer because of it.
The grant funding for Kinshasa will help restore running water, rehabilitate roadways, help parents pay for primary schooling, and provide bed nets to residents to prevent malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that is Africa's biggest killer.
"These projects have been under preparation since December last year and the approval will allow us to provide assistance to Congo's poor," Alba told a conference call.
"The regrettable clashes in Kinshasa last week should not prevent poor people access to water, roads, bed nets and education, and we urge all parties, including the government, to work together to create a political environment in which poverty reduction and development activities can be carried out," he added.
While the brunt of Congo's civil war was in the east of the country, Kinshasa has experienced occasional flare ups of political unrest. Years of neglect have left it in ruins.
Last year, President Joseph Kabila won the country's first democratic elections in over four decades, following years of corrupt leadership and a 1998-2003 war that killed an estimated 4 million people through conflict, war and disease.
The World Bank grants are part of a new "rapid response" policy that the World Bank -- hoping to offer people proof of a peace dividend -- approved last month to deliver aid more quickly to countries emerging from war and disaster.
World Bank officials acknowledged the unrest could recur in Kinshasa, amid the lingering tensions between Kabila's government and groups loyal to former presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba, who sought refuge in the South African embassy during the violence.
But the officials said they were confident they could implement the rebuilding projects with the help of special agencies and development groups.
They said the World Bank could now proceed with discussions with Congo's government on a more formal lending program, which could be concluded by mid-year.
