Widespread insecurity remains impediment - WFP

Insecurity and poor road conditions throughout South Kivu remain major constraints for the World Food Programme (WFP) to carry out large-scale food distributions in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN agency reported on Friday.

Around Fizi, over 4,000 people were reported to have fled to Baraka and Tanzania. Despite difficulties, WFP distributed 170 mt of food to 40,700 vulnerable people in the province, mainly internally displaced people (IDPs) who returned to their homes during the week of 8 to 14 October.

In Katanga province, WFP was forced to suspend a planned food distribution in Mitwaba due to insecurity, and food supplies for Angolan refugees in Kisenge are "seriously impeded" by the slowness of rail transport from Lubumbashi. Meanwhile, WFP has begun assistance to newly-displaced people in Kamina.

In Equateur province, food availability and accessibility in various areas has been "greatly affected" by looting and the presence of land-mines. WFP was able to resume food distribution for IDPs in Mbandaka, where it also intends to support the therapeutic feeding centre run by MSF. However, local populations in Basankusu, Befale, Makanza and Bolomba remained in need due to limited access. Using a UN mission in the DRC flight, WFP was able to deliver two mt of food and completed an assessment mission in Befale.

In Bas-Congo province, WFP reported a continued influx of Angolan refugees in Kimvula, bringing the caseload from 3,600 to over 13,000. As a contingency measure, WFP is planning an initial distribution of 163 mt of food pending a needs assessment mission. Meanwhile, refugees who recently arrived in Kimakesa told WFP that "a large number of people" were still hiding in the Kingela forest in Angola.