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ActionAid suspends operations in Goma
Source: ActionAid
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The United Nations has advised international aid workers to leave Goma and advised all national workers to stay at home.
On Thursday ActionAid had planned to distribute emergency supplies to 12,000 displaced families living in the Masisi camp in North Kivu province. Staff were also due to provide counselling for children in the Masisi camp and distribute 3,000 jerry cans for water storage to people living in the Mugunga 1 camp outside Goma.
Large numbers of displaced people are arriving in camps near Goma as well as into Goma town, fleeing fighting between the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and the Congolese army.
Humanitarian agencies had been struggling to look after those who were already living in the camps before the latest influx of people.
ActionAid staff report that the situation in Goma has been very tense in the past few days.
ActionAid DRC Country Director, Alpha Sanko, said: “The international community must intervene as a matter of urgency to help contain the situation. The United Nations has a responsibility to safeguard the security of civilians and initiate diplomatic dialogue among the warring parties to put an end to the violence.”
ActionAid works on women’s rights, education and disaster risk reduction in DRC as well as supporting displaced people.
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