Mediate in Congo conflict, NGO urges UN

NGO Refugees International (RI) says it has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to engage a "senior diplomat" to mediate in the Republic of Congo which has been wracked by decades of ethnic conflict. In a report titled "Forgotten People: Republic of Congo", RI said Annan should follow the example of Burundi, where senior South African officials were mediating a peace process; and Sri Lanka, where officials from Norway had intervened to bring about peace. Urging international donors to increase funding for humanitarian appeals in the Republic of Congo, RI said special attention should be paid to the provision of economic incentives for the demobilisation of militias; the expansion of support programmes for victims of rape and sexual assault; and increasing awareness, education and testing initiatives to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. "An effective demobilisation process, supported by economic development utilising the country's oil resources, could well pave the way to a stable future," RI reported. It added that the transport infrastructure should be rehabilitated as soon as possible. The RI report, which detailed the history of conflict in this country of some three million people, said although violence had been going on for so long, the "potential for a peaceful and even prosperous future is not out of reach". Violence has claimed more than 20,000 lives in the country in recent years, RI said, adding that reports of rape and sexual assault were widespread. Quoting figures released by the United States Committee for Refugees (USCR), RI said about 30,000 Republic of Congo nationals were refugees or asylum seekers by the end of 2001. "Though exact figures are not yet available, continued violence suggests the number rose in 2002," RI reported It said about 100,000 people were internally displaced in the country, which also hosted at least 100,000 refugees from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "The combined effects of conflict and displacement have devastated the country's economy. USCR estimates that 70 percent of all residents in the country's two largest cities [Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire] live at or below the poverty line," RI said. Violence had continued in the country, despite a peace agreement signed on 17 March between the government and "Ninja" rebels. Most of the violence has been in the Pool Region where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced, RI said. "In the shadow of events in the Middle East, however, the resurgence of violence has gone largely unreported and appeals from UNICEF [Un Children's Fund] and the Red Cross remain grossly underfunded," RI added. RI said lack of funds had impeded humanitarian organisations from meeting the needs of the displaced and other needy people in the country. "Recent weeks have offered signs that violence in the country may be waning, but sustaining peace in the ravaged country will be a challenge of considerable measure," RI reported.