“Distinct possibility” of more conflict

Recent fighting in Brazzaville has had an immense impact on a population that was just starting to recover from the devastating 1997 civil war, a UN humanitarian report says. About 10 percent of the country’s 2.7 million people has been recently displaced and much of the country has been plunged back into chaos and insecurity, fueling growing feelings of resentment among an already war-traumatised population, the report says. In view of the current military and political situation, a further escalation of hostilities over the next few months is a “distinct possibility”, it says. Efforts to promote reconciliation in the period after the 1997 war were hampered by very poor donor response to consolidated emergency appeals launched after the end of that five-month conflict, the report adds. The prevalence of different armed groups and the on-going crises in neighbouring countries now make the attainment of a sustainable resolution to the Congolese conflict even more unlikely, it says. The report describes a UN/NGO plan to provide emergency assistance to people affected by last month’s heavy fighting in southern Brazzaville. The two-month plan calls for the provision of food rations to 200,000 displaced persons, therapeutic treatment for 3,000 malnourished children, support to Brazzaville’s health structures and assistance to some 200 displaced unaccompanied children.