NAIROBI, 22 December (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

DRC: More militiamen, dissident soldiers surrender - MONUC ROC: Agencies appeal for US $28 million for the vulnerable UGANDA-DRC: Congolese refugees moved to permanent camp DRC-ANGOLA: UN agency begins repatriating Angolan refugees CAR: Blame game as villages burn KENYA: Alarming levels of child sex exploitation - UNICEF UGANDA: Scores killed in forced disarmament in northeast SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers

ALSO SEE: DRC: Security crucial to Kabila's success

[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56781 ]

TANZANIA: New drive for the environment in Zanzibar [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56766 ]

CAR: Tens of thousands of villagers on the run [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56785 ]

DRC: More militiamen, dissident soldiers surrender - MONUC

Several groups of militiamen and dissident soldiers have begun surrendering their weapons to join a demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) process in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations official said.

Most of those surrendering are in the district of Ituri in Orientale Province, and in South Kivu Province in the east, according to the military spokesman for the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC), Lt-Col Didier Rancher.

"The process is continuing this week," Rancher said on Wednesday in the capital, Kinshasa.

Eastern DRC has remained one of the most volatile regions in the country, with militias frequently involved in fighting against the regular army. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56808 ]

ROC: Agencies appeal for US $28 million for the vulnerable

United Nations agencies and NGOs in the Republic of Congo (ROC) have appealed for US $28 million to alleviate the suffering of thousands of vulnerable people in the country next year.

The appeal, launched on Wednesday, covers 24 projects under 11 UN agencies and other national and international humanitarian aid organisations. These include projects in the sectors of health and nutrition; water and sanitation; food security; protection; education; and HIV/AIDS.

"The consolidated appeal is the result of an evaluation of the current humanitarian situation in the country," Aurélien Agbenonci, the UN Resident Coordinator, said during the launch. "This appeal is aimed at ending the suffering of the population." [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56815 ]

UGANDA-DRC: Congolese refugees moved to permanent camp

At least 800 Congolese who fled recent fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been moved from the DRC-Uganda border to a camp further inland in southwestern Uganda, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has said.

In a statement, the agency said on Tuesday that 300 of the refugees left Nyakabanda transit site in Kisoso, also in the southwest of Uganda, for the Nakivale Refugee Settlement camp in Isingiro District, 330 km away. "This brings to 886 the total number of Congolese refugees transferred to Nakivale since Sunday," Roberta Russo, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Kampala, said. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56795 ]

DRC-ANGOLA: UN agency begins repatriating Angolan refugees

The first 50 of at least 1,800 Angolan refugees have left Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the northern Angolan region of Mbanza Kongo, an official of the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

"The UN Refugee Agency on Monday launched a new operation phase for the repatriation of Angolan refugees living in the DRC," Jens Hesemann, UNHCR officer in charge of external relations, said. He said the 50 were among the group of Angolan refugees considered most vulnerable, who had registered with the agency to return home before 30 December. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56792 ]

CAR: Blame game as villages burn

The burning and looting of villages across north-central Central African Republic has scattered thousands of civilians from their homes while the rebels and the army blame each other for aggravating the situation.

"The villagers are being held hostage by the rebels," Col Jean Christophe Bureau, prefect of Kaga Bandoro, 300 km north of the capital, Bangui, said. "Their animals and food are being stolen. All the villages were burned by the rebels."

Bureau, who is officially in charge of the region, insisted that government troops had often come under fire when passing through villages in the area. "A highly intense military operation is needed to overcome rebellion in the region", including air strikes, he said. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56782 ]

KENYA: Alarming levels of child sex exploitation - UNICEF

Sexual exploitation of children in Kenya has reached very high levels, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated in a report launched on Tuesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

A study by UNICEF and the Kenyan government found that at least 15,000 girls in four districts on the Kenyan coast – Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi and Kwale - were engaged in casual sex-for-cash.

"These girls, aged 12 to 18 years, make up 30 percent of the total population of girls from these districts in this age range," UNICEF said. "A further two to three thousand girls and boys are involved in full-time sex-for cash. Some of them are paid to perform the most horrific and abnormal acts."

According to UNICEF, at least 45 percent of the girls in the survey began selling sex for cash, goods or favours at only 12 or 13. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56788 ]

UGANDA: Scores killed in forced disarmament in northeast

More than 150 people, including woman and children, have been killed and hundreds of others displaced in northeastern Uganda after clashes between government soldiers and armed cattle herders in the past two months, the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

"Following the government's resumption in May of its forced disarmament programme to address insecurity created by the illegal possession of firearms by some Karamojong members, the reporting period witnessed deteriorating security conditions in Kotido, Kaabong and Abim caused by confrontations between the UPDF [Uganda People's Defense Forces] and Karamojong warriors," UNICEF said in a report. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56787 ]

SUDAN: Largest monthly relocation of aid workers

More aid workers have been relocated in western Sudanese region of Darfur following Monday's attack on Gereida, South Darfur State, bringing the numbers of humanitarian staff moved in December to a record 400, the United Nations said.

The relocations are the highest in one month since a large-scale humanitarian operation in Darfur began in 2004. Gereida has the largest number of displaced people – 130,000 - in the region. About 20 armed men attacked several NGO compounds, harassing staff and stealing vehicles, communication equipment and money, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday. [Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56796 ]

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