NGOs, US discuss humanitarian work

NGO and US government representatives recently held discussions on the constraints encountered by operational NGOs in the country and explored some of the means to alleviate the problems. They also discussed possible strategies for increasing the engagement of the international community in the country. The NGOs noted the difficulty in getting permission to go outside Kinshasa. A representative from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) suggested that Moba (southeastern DRC) would be a good starting point for increasing NGO presence and assistance. “Moba is accessible, but in dire need of additional resources,” she noted. She observed that at the moment all US government funding in the region was going into Kisangani, which consequently is “over funded”. Action Against Hunger (AAH) which is working in both Kinshasa and eastern DRC said that the situation in the east “is much more critical”. It said it had just completed a report on the humanitarian situation in South Kivu, “a fairly inaccessible area in which the population has been essentially abandoned”. “AAH is working in the area, but is understaffed and having difficulty bringing in supplies,” a representative from the organisation said. He said the area has experienced three consecutive droughts, so that food security is a critical problem. The main problems noted were security, logistics and resources.