Latest report on ICRC activities in the field

Fighting broke out again this week, just as humanitarian agencies like the ICRC were trying to get to grips with the problems thrown up by the recent wave of violence in the east.

This time, the violence took place in Ishasha, a village 100 kilometres north-east of Goma.

Sources on the ground report that several thousand people have fled their homes as a result, many crossing over into neighbouring Uganda.

General situation The needs of hundreds of thousands of victims of fighting and displacement in the eastern part of the DRC remain daunting.

They have not been able to return to their homes for fear of violence.

Although some have found a modicum of relief in the camps for displaced persons set up in the wake of the recent fighting, most continue to live either with poor host families, straining under the additional economic burden, or in makeshift shelters.

They are short of food, drinking water and medicine.

Several cases of cholera, due to inadequate hygiene, have been diagnosed in the camps.

The ICRC is deeply concerned by the violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) committed by parties to the conflict.

As guardian of IHL, the ICRC maintains a constant dialogue with their leaders to urge them to ensure respect for IHL by their troops.

What the ICRC is doing: Protection This week, the ICRC reunited four children with their families.

They had been separated by the recent outbreak of fighting.

Altogether, the Red Cross has identified and registered more than 86 unaccompanied children in the past two weeks.

The ICRC is working with four radio stations in North Kivu and local branches of the Congolese Red Cross to trace the children's relatives as quickly as possible.

Two new Red Cross contact centres have been set up in the Kibati camps, on the northern outskirts of Goma, to allow easier access to tracing services in the wake of the recent waves of displacement.

Assistance Saké, Bweremana and Minova (30 to 45 km west of Goma) Together with the Congolese Red Cross, the ICRC is distributing food to over 60,000 people in Saké, Kirotshe, Sasha, Kihindo and Bweremana in coordination with the World Food Programme.

The aid is reaching displaced people and residents, many of whom are hosting the displaced.

Beneficiaries are receiving a month's supply of flour, beans, cooking oil and rice.

In the coming days, the ICRC will also be distributing to displaced people in this volatile area essential items such as buckets, soap, clothes, cooking utensils and hoes.

Those whose homes were destroyed during the latest bout of fighting will also receive tarpaulins.

In Saké, the ICRC is upgrading the water supply system with a view to providing safe drinking water for the town's 30,000 inhabitants and its large displaced population.

The Kibati camps (on the outskirts of Goma) The ICRC continues to supply drinking water to areas around Kibati that have no infrastructure.

Every day, more than 80,000 litres are delivered by truck to distribution points benefiting over 30,000 people.

The ICRC and the Congolese Red Cross are supporting two counselling centres for victims of sexual violence.

Congolese Red Cross volunteers continue to raise awareness of basic hygiene among the displaced in a bid to stave off any outbreak of contagious disease.

Goma The ICRC has supplied medicines to the Don Bosco Centre, which cares for children, to help it cope not only with the influx of unaccompanied children it has taken under its wing but also with the other 1,200 displaced people in the vicinity.

An ICRC surgical team continues to work in Katindo Military Hospital.

Local Red Cross volunteers help keep the hospital clean.

On 2 December, the Congolese Red Cross will distribute food to over 1,200 displaced people who have taken refuge in five schools and churches.

The ICRC continues to visit people held in Goma prison and to provide humanitarian assistance.

This week, it gave the prison an incinerator and supplies for upgrading the kitchen in order to improve the general level of hygiene.

Vitshumbi (Rutshuru territory, about 120 km north of Goma) An emergency water installation set up by the ICRC and run by the Congolese Red Cross produces 70,000 litres of drinking water a day, helping to stave off water-borne diseases among the area's 12,000 residents and displaced people.

Kitshanga (Masisi territory) ICRC engineers have begun repair work on the water network, which supplies safe drinking water to 25,000 residents.

The ICRC is installing a new 90,000-litres reservoir for the 32,000 displaced people in Mungote and Kahe camps.

This will triple the camps' current water storage capacity and finally meet their needs.

Béni, Butembo and Kirumba (150 km north of Goma) The ICRC is reinforcing its presence in the area to cope with the increasing need for humanitarian aid.

The organization is upgrading its base to a fully-fledged office with over 30 staff, including five expatriates.

Meanwhile, the ICRC has supplied medicines and medical equipment to Kitsombiro Health Centre to help it cope with the recent influx of victims of the nearby fighting.

For further information, please contact:
Olga Miltcheva, ICRC Goma, tel: +243 81 03 66 812
Anna Schaaf, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 22 71 or +41 79 217 32 17

See also ICRC media contacts

This article on www.icrc.org