WFP, NGO begin to access populations beyond Bunia

As UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo extend their authority beyond Bunia, the main town of the country's troubled northeastern district of Ituri, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and its partner NGO, German Agro Action (GAA), have begun to reach some of the thousands of people who had been inaccessible to humanitarian agencies for months due to inter-ethnic fighting in the region, WFP told IRIN on Monday. On 1 September, the UN peacekeeping force, known as MONUC, took over control of Bunia from the French-led multinational force deployed in June to restore order. Unlike the multinational force, whose mandate was confined to Bunia, MONUC is authorised to enforce peace throughout Ituri. WFP said it did not know how many people were still hiding in the forests of Ituri, fearful of armed groups that have terrorised the region for months. However, some, encouraged by recent political developments and improved security, were returning to their homes, it said. "We really don't know what condition we'll find these people in," Felix Bamezon, the WFP country director, said. "We do know that many of them have lost everything and will face severe hardship if we can't get food aid to them as soon as possible. Reaching out into the interior is a priority." On 10 September - the first time in more than a year - a GAA team reached Songolo, 35 km south of Bunia, where it distributed rations of maize flour, beans, salt and vegetable oil to 5,500 people. Like many towns and villages in the area, Songolo had been inaccessible because of armed conflict among militias. Two GAA trucks reached the village, via roads in very poor condition, and found it had been largely destroyed. Most villagers had sought refuge in nearby forests, and those who had returned have had to rebuild their homes from scratch. The agency described the people of Songolo in poor condition nutritionally, having fled their homes empty-handed. Although many said they wished to return to their homes in Bunia, they said they still feared for their safety. Earlier, on 8 September, WFP aid reached the village of Iga-Barriere, 25 km north of Bunia, where more than 300 families with malnourished children received rations. Prevailing insecurity has meant that the only way to get food aid into the region is by airlift to Bunia - "a very costly venture", according to WFP. Continuing reports of ambushes and mines along the main routes into the interior have prevented large-scale humanitarian access by road, with thousands of families in need still to be reached in the disputed region between Bunia and Fataki, 100 km to the north. Insecurity has also deterred many from returning to their homes and resuming normal activity, thereby increasing their dependence on humanitarian aid, WFP said. Almost all agricultural and economic life has been brought to a standstill by the fighting in Ituri - a fertile area once famous for its agricultural produce. Prior to September, WFP's activities in Ituri were largely confined to feeding the more than 12,000 displaced people from Bunia and the wider region who had taken refuge in the camp next to Bunia National Airport.