WFP reports on recent activities

In its most recent update, WFP reiterated its participation in a current UN interagency mission to Gemena and Zongo in northern Equateur province of the DRC to assess humanitarian needs of some 45,000 Central African Republic refugees who have settled there. Meanwhile in Kinshasa province, WFP and its implementing partners are distributing food to 81,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and vulnerable groups. In North Kivu province, WFP is assisting 2,720 malnourished children through 11 nutritional centres run by World Vision. The 110 families of the malnourished children are involved in a WFP-supported market garden programme and receive food to prevent the aggravation of malnutrition among other children. WFP noted that while security has remained stable in Goma, North Kivu province, reported movements of Interahamwe forces continued in Bwito, Rutshuru territory, resulting in new displacements of populations and restricted access for humanitarian agencies. WFP also noted that confrontations among armed groups in South Kivu and northern Katanga province continue to force populations to flee and interfere with humanitarian activities. Nevertheless, in Bukavu, South Kivu province, WFP provided assistance to 283 refugees repatriated to Rwanda from 9 to 22 July through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) transit centres, while in northern Katanga province, WFP intends to provide a month ration to 16,430 IDPs and malnourished children in Kalemie. A recent WFP assessment around Shabunda in South Kivu province found an estimated 1,200 food insecure families in Matili and Lulingu, currently accessible only by air.