UN Agencies to tour rebel held zones

All UN agencies in the Central African Republic (CAR) are in early January to tour the east and west of the country still under rebel control, the UN Resident Coordinator's Office has reported.

"The aim of the mission is to assess the humanitarian situation in the countryside in order to identify the actual needs of the population and then provide appropriate humanitarian assistance," the UN office reported.

It added that the mission, which would be conducted in phases, would also access the impact of the ongoing conflict on the population's food security, and on the education, water and sanitation services.

The first mission is provisionally due to be carried out from 3 to 10 January 2003 and will cover the west and the northwest of the country. The second is scheduled to take place between 13 and 19 January and will tour the east and southeast. The visits would begin after Gen Francois Bozize, the rebel former army chief of staff, had approved the list of the mission's members, the UN said.

"The rebels have demanded a detailed list,” Aboudou Karimou Adjibade, the representative of the UN Children's Fund and acting UN resident coordinator, said Friday in a weekly NGO-UN humanitarian coordination meeting.

The two parties in conflict – the government and Bozize’s supporters - have both agreed, in principle, to the tours have promised to cooperate fully with the UN. Each would provide military escorts in the zones it controls.

Only UN civilian personnel will participate in this mission; they will hold talks with local officials and residents, as well as other actors on the ground.

The food, sanitary and security situations in rebel-controlled zones remain a major concern of humanitarian workers. The north and the east of the country have been isolated from the rest of the country since 25 October, when Bozize’s supporters invaded Bangui in their attempt to overthrow Patasse's government.