UN sets aside US $67,600 for Ikela residents

The UN has set aside US $67,600 for a two-year project to distribute seeds directly to 1,800 people, and indirectly to the entire population of the Ikela area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's northern Equateur Province, after completion of a pilot phase, Noel Tsekouras, an official of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN on Tuesday.

He said the project, from which the entire local population would benefit, should improve the food security situation and support economic recovery in Ikela, where some 75 percent of the residents are farmers.

Ikela is under government-control, but has been inaccessible to the humanitarian community for two years because of fighting between government and rebel forces, and because of Kinshasa's refusal to authorise access to the area.

In its humanitarian situation report of 10-16 June, OCHA said landmines had inhibited farming in Ikela, making direct food aid necessary. Since June 2001, it said, there had been 19 mine victims, six of whom were killed. A local NGO, Groupe d'Action pour la Reconstruction d'Ikela, has called for the identification and marking of landmine sites, also saying there is the need to sensitise area residents to the danger.

Between 500 and 600 tents were required, OCHA said, for use by the people while they rebuilt their homes, 80 percent of which had been destroyed during the war. The presence of humanitarian organisations has increased in Ikela with the arrival of another NGO, COOPI, which has set up an operational base for health intervention in the town.

Meanwhile, CARITAS has announced the completion of its drive, funded by the UN Children's Fund, to distribute medicines and train health personnel at the health centres of Boende, Bokungu, Befale, Djolu and Ikela.