UN warns of dire humanitarian situation in the east

The UN's Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator Ross Mountain told donors and journalists in Nairobi on Monday that the humanitarian situation in eastern DRC was "dire." Civilians were caught up in a war that involved national and regional groups vying for control of the territory, which had left more than 500,000 people displaced, he said. Mountain was speaking
after conducting a humanitarian assessment mission in eastern DRC most of last week. He said one of the most pressing questions was "how to carve out greater humanitarian space and with that space how to gain greater support for humanitarian activities" in the Kivus. Rather than being offered protection, civilians were targeted by all parties to the conflict, while humanitarian agencies had no access to some 50 percent of
the population in need of assistance, Mountain said. On a slightly more positive note, all parties understood the need to assist vulnerable people - regardless of their location - and had committed themselves to the Principles of Engagement for Emergency Humanitarian Assistance that guide relief operations in the DRC, he added.