Hope for reduced IDP caseload

The disengagement and withdrawal of armed forces from the frontlines of western and southern Democratic Republic of Congo has given humanitarian agencies access to areas cut off for almost three years, revealing a critical health situation such as malnutrition nearing 30 percent among host communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on 30 Sept.

In a review of the affected population in Africa's Great Lakes region, OCHA reported that improved security would likely lead to a reduced IDP caseload from two million to 1.5 million. Humanitarian agencies, it added, had noted that displaced people now had a tendency to travel farther from their areas of origin, making relief efforts more difficult. Most IDPs in the Congo live with host families, placing a huge burden on an already poor people.

"Indeed, in many places, host families have become as impoverished and destitute as the displaced," OCHA reported.

During flight children are often separated from their families and are exposed to rebel recruitment and other dangers. Approximately 78 percent of the IDPs are in rebel-held areas, less than half of who have access to humanitarian aid. However, humanitarian agencies say the worst off are those who have taken refuge in forests, mainly around Shabunda, Ituri and along the Bokungu-Ikela axis in Equateur province. "These populations have no access to relief aid, medical supplies or clothes and are living in extreme conditions," OCHA reported.