KIVU, DR Congo
UNICEF on
Tuesday urged humanitarian partners to intensify their efforts to help
thousands of people displaced in the highlands of the Democratic Republic of
Congo’s South Kivu province.
In a statement, UNICEF said that the people urgently required
food, shelter, health and education assistance and it was concentrating its
efforts in Mikenge area where an estimated 40,000 people are camped.
“The crisis in South Kivu has
flown under the radar as DRC grapples with the Ebola crisis until recently and
multiple crises in the eastern part of the country,” the statement read in
part.
According to UNICEF, thousands
of people in Uvira, Fizi and Mwenga were forced to flee from their homes in the
last three months due to inter-ethnic conflicts which destroyed their
livelihoods.
“UNICEF estimates that 10
health centres were looted and rendered unusable, while another 18 were
abandoned by medical staff fleeing violence. At least 28 schools were looted or
damaged in December 2019 and have not been rebuilt since, leaving thousands of
children without a place to study.”
UNICEF said that it had
assisted in reopening a hospital in Mikenge in addition to restocking its
medical supplies which have been crucial in treating thousands of people in
that period.
The UN agency added that it
was also working to resettle more than 15 lost children by reuniting them with
their parents or placing them in host families.
Moreover, it said it planned
to distribute four tons of emergency food rations to about 4,000 vulnerable
people.
According to the UNHCR, the UN
refugee agency, more than one million people have been forced to flee their
homes in the eastern DR Congo since the beginning of 2020 due to violence
perpetrated by armed groups.
The UNHCR said the latest incidents were exacerbating an already deteriorating situation and putting additional strain on areas hosting the displaced persons.
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