Humanitarian action “indispensable” for peace

In addition to military considerations, DRC peace efforts must also address the humanitarian problems resulting from the war and the cumulative effect of three decades of corrupt inaction, the UN appeal stated. For example, the return and reintegration of over one million displaced persons and refugees and efforts aimed at promoting ethnic cohabitation were “indispensable parts of the peace architecture”, it said. In spite of endemic violence and persisting inter-ethnic tensions, several community-driven reconciliation initiatives were underway, most notably in South Kivu, it said. Although the Lusaka peace process faced many difficulties, it represented “the only hope for sparing the region from protracted chaos and instability, the appeal added.