Northwest displaced rely on food aid

Pockets of "severe hardship" remain in parts of the northwest, in spite of significant improvements in the situation of internally displaced populations (IDPs), an OCHA report said. The report, 'Northwest Rwanda...Towards Recovery,' said much of the resettled population still had limited possibilities to engage in agricultural activities and lacked purchasing power, while "far more" needed to be done to address pressing water and sanitation needs in the area. It said "significant numbers in the northwest will remain reliant on food aid at least until the harvests of January 2000". Some 650,000 people were displaced in the northwest prefectures of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri by the end of 1998 due to insecurity. Most have been relocated from congested IDP camps to new grouped settlements sites under the government's 'umudugudu' policy. The OCHA report said there was also need to "tackle the problems of building sustainable umudugudu villages". It said the international community had requested "assurances" on the government's "villagisation" policy, such as on the passing of land tenure laws. "Then, a new development phase for the northwest can proceed," the report said.