UN: DR Congo Grapples with Acute Humanitarian Emergencies
(MENAFN) A top United Nations official issued a stark warning Friday, declaring that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the grip of one of the world’s most severe humanitarian disasters, as escalating violence and insecurity continue to ravage the country’s eastern provinces.
"The Democratic Republic of the Congo is currently facing one of the most acute humanitarian emergencies in the world. Food insecurity is rising as families lose access to their fields and see their harvests confiscated," said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, during a UN Security Council briefing.
The crisis has been exacerbated by mass displacement. "Today, 5.9 million Congolese are internally displaced, including one million in North Kivu and 1.5 million in South Kivu. Families are repeatedly uprooted, caught in a cycle of fear and constant displacement," Pobee reported.
While recent diplomatic efforts—brokered in part by the United States and Qatar—have led to peace agreements in June and July, Pobee emphasized that tangible improvements on the ground have yet to materialize. "The evolution of the security situation on the ground has not matched the progress achieved on the diplomatic front," she cautioned.
The violence is taking a devastating toll on civilians. "The number of civilian casualties has risen dramatically. Humanitarian workers are risking their lives to provide limited assistance to a population whose needs continue to grow. Conflict-related sexual violence persists amid general indifference. The forced recruitment of children continues," Pobee said.
She also singled out the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) as a continuing source of terror in North Kivu and Ituri. "185 civilians, including children, have been killed since the beginning of July" and "hundreds have also been kidnapped over the same period," she reported.
Pobee concluded with a warning that high-level negotiations cannot replace tangible peace. "It should be emphasized, at the same time, that while commitment to process is welcome, it is no substitute for an actual cessation of hostilities on the ground and genuine steps to end the privations of conflict in eastern DRC," she said.
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