Donors briefed on access and funding

The problems of access to vulnerable populations in the DRC, and the need for a rapid response capacity wherever access was achieved, were emphasised in a recent high-level meeting in Geneva between humanitarian actors and the donor community, according to UN sources. There had been some increased access, and this was expected to increase further since the DRC government had agreed to work with UN agencies and authorised movement within government-held areas, they said. The donors were told that funding remained a problem, with only 12 percent of the Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for the year filled, although some $10 million had been pledged for three rounds of National Immunisations Days (NIDs) scheduled for July, August and September, humanitarian sources stated.

A key requirement in the coming weeks and months was to improve the relationship between donors, humanitarian actors and combatants in the DRC conflict, establishing a framework that would allow safe humanitarian access while also supporting the political process, they added.