NGOs urge donors to increase development funds for the Pool region

Representatives of humanitarian NGOs in the Republic of Congo (ROC) have urged the international donor community to provide more financial aid for the development of the Department of Pool, a war-torn region in the central African nation. They made the appeal on Friday in Brazzaville, the ROC capital, during a workshop organised by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The plea was directed at the European Union, in particular. "We need to review the humanitarian intervention strategy in the Pool in order to work towards development," Sergio Vezzola, the country director of the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, a French NGO, said. "The principal providers of funds also need to take action in this direction." He said the NGOs should force the EU to provide development funds even if security problems persisted in the Pool. The Pool is emerging from a series of civil wars that took place between 1998 and 2002, and were marked by a wide range of atrocities. The conflict destroyed the social and economic structure of this region, once considered the country's granary. Despite a ceasefire agreement signed in March 2003 between the government and a former rebel group operating from the Pool, thousands of displaced people still live in neighbouring departments and are unable to return to their homes, despite their proximity to Brazzaville. The few displaced people who were able to return are assisted by several NGOs, including Caritas-Congo, Doctors Without Borders and the French Medical Aid Committee. "If nothing is done for the Pool, then this region will again fall back into a very difficult situation," NGOs said in their plea. They highlighted the continued need for the support of primary health care and basic assistance to new returnees. "The donors presently don't respond to ensure the continued presence and work of the NGOs," Mohamud Hashi, the OCHA humanitarian adviser in Brazzaville, said.