Some 32,000 displaced people without relief aid

Some 32,000 displaced people in Ruyigi, eastern Burundi, are still without aid because fighting between government and dissidents has prevented relief workers from reaching the needy in three localities in the Nyabitsinda District, an OCHA humanitarian affairs officer in Burundi said on Thursday.

"Several evaluation missions were cancelled due to fighting in the area," Helena Mazarro said.

The three areas with displaced populations are Nyabitsinda, Kinynya and Muhwazi. The health centre at Muhwazi had already registered some 500 acutely malnourished people, she said.

The humanitarian community is discussing with the government the possibility of humanitarian corridors for the delivery of food, non-food items, nutrition, and water and sanitation aid. She said aid deliveries were due to begin on Tuesday.