UK MPs urge "substantially increased aid package"

An All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes and Genocide Prevention of the UK has warned that "a humanitarian disaster in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is unfolding on a vast scale" and "urges the UK government to broker a substantially increased aid package to provide basic healthcare, nutrition, shelter and education for DRC, via NGOs and UN agencies". The report contains the findings and recommendations of a visit made to the DRC from 2 - 6 Aug 2001. The UK mission included members of parliament Oona King of the Labour Party; Andrew Robathan of the Conservative Party; David Lammy (Labour); and Eric Joyce (Labour). They were accompanied by Jamie Balfour-Paul, regional policy adviser of Oxfam GB and representative of the trip for funding agencies Oxfam GB, Christian Aid, Save the Children, Tearfund and International Alert. Among the group's primary recommendations was a call for the UK government to push for an expansion of personnel and resources available to MONUC (the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC); faster disarmament, demobilisation and resettlement of armed groups; a UN embargo on arms exports into the region; and a credible study of the threat posed by armed groups [such as the Congolese Mayi-Mayi militias, the Rwandan Hutu Interahamwe militias, and the ex-FAR - the former Rwandan army] operating in the DRC. The mission also highlighted the disparity in support provided to peacekeeping missions on the African continent. "Given the vast size of DRC, if the UN deployed the same density of troops-to-land as it did in Kosovo, it would require 10 million UN peacekeepers," the report said. "Whilst this is wildly unrealistic, so too is the proposed deployment of 5,000 UN soldiers." The parliamentarians recommended that greater support be given to the office of the inter-Congolese dialogue facilitator, former Botswanan president Ketumile Masire. National peace and reconciliation talks orchestrated by Masire were suspended earlier in October due to insufficient funds. Efforts are underway to restart the talks at a time and location to be determined, in South Africa. The group also recommended that British and European bilateral aid policy in the Great Lakes region "must be linked to cessation of illegal exploitation of natural resources and implementation of the Lusaka peace agreement". It suggested that certification schemes be introduced, where appropriate, to stop this exploitation. For the complete report go to: http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2001/uk.drc.26oct.pdf