NEW YORK, 14 December (IRIN) - The United Nations and partner agencies estimate they require US$687 million next year to deliver the essential relief aid and humanitarian support to affected communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN's Consolidated Appeal for the DRC is the second largest after Darfur, western Sudan.

The DRC is a pilot country for system-wide reform initiatives that aim to improve humanitarian coordination and funding. In 2006, the DRC received $38 million from the expanded Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as an under-funded emergency.

The UN, said Ross Mountain, UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC, has been able to try out new coordination and financing mechanisms in the DRC as it is a pilot country for humanitarian reform. In particular, common (or 'pooled') funding has resulted in un-earmarked funds being made available to be dispersed at his discretion, in consultation with UN agency and NGO partners.

"Initially we thought it would be of the order of $20 million. We've discovered as we come to the end of the year we have $129 million, and it counts for about one-third of the humanitarian assistance that is going into the country," he said.

Mountain said the focus of this funding was "on achieving results to change the lives of people. We see this as a means of providing support for the betterment of people's lives... working from the needs backwards.

"We're much more optimistic that we'll do better next year. We reckon we've reached 10 million people in the country this year and clearly that is not sufficient... we should be up to [helping] 14 million if we get what we need," Mountain told journalists in New York on Monday. With an estimated 1,200 people dying every day, international support was vital.

"The population is fed up with war. That's the bottom line," he said, adding that the most important issue the country had to grapple with next year was reforming the security sector.

"They need to ensure that the DRC army is trained to protect civilians, not prey on them," he said, noting that sexual violence committed by government troops and the 20 different militias in the country was particularly worrisome.

This year has seen some positive trends, with the surrender of key rebel groups and relative improvements in security conditions enabling the displaced or refugees to return home. However, in eastern DRC, militias have continued to fight the DRC army, displacing an estimated 500,000 people and violating human rights.

On the humanitarian side, 80 percent of the population was considered food insecure, while water, health, and sanitation remained a priority, said Mountain.

"We are focusing on a range of aspects that are life-saving, but we are also focusing on re-integration activities for the internally displaced, of which we have over one million, the ex-combatants and refugees to be integrated into their community," he said.

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