Agencies bring aid to Bujumbura's war-displaced

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and partner NGOs have mounted relief operations to respond to the needs of increasing numbers of war-displaced in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, following two weeks of fighting between government forces and rebel elements of the Forces nationales de liberation. UNICEF reported on Friday that following recent hostilities around Bujumbura, more than 40,000 people had been displaced, while over 17,000 people, fearful of fighting, were spending nights in areas of the city they considered safe. UNICEF said that a joint mission it had conducted on Wednesday with the UN World Food Programme, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Catholic Relief Services had found women and children in need of shelter in one site for internally displaced persons (IDPS). UNICEF said it was distributing blankets and high protein biscuits at this site, while the Neuro-Psychological Centre of Kamenge was also lending its support. In a second site, Mont Sion, UNICEF reported that the International Rescue Committee was providing water to over 7,000 IDPs. UNICEF said that residents of peripheral neighbourhoods of the capital and in the surrounding Bujumbura Rural Province had been weakened by frequent fighting and temporary displacement, and that, in many cases, they were victims of looting and armed banditry. It also noted that sexual violence against women and girls was of particular concern, with cases reported from many provinces country-wide.