The European Union’s top aid official says the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo maybe one of the world’s worst.
This, as the Congolese government shunned a conference seeking to alleviate the suffering.
Multiple crises are spiralling out of control in Congo, in the central Kasai region and in the eastern Kivu and Ituri provinces – aggravated by President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his elected mandate in 2016.
Concern over the deterioration of the situation in Congo, a country with a long history of war and humanitarian crises, has pushed the United Nations, the European Union and donor nations to organise a conference in Geneva in April.
EU Commissioner Christos Stylianides says: “This is not good for DRC but above all for the vulnerable people inside DRC. For us as European Union, I said we are co-chair in this conference in Geneva.
“We continue to mobilise more assistance to DRC and no doubt that if DRC will be there in pledge conference as one of the most important pillars of these efforts definitely will be positive.”
Over 13 million Congolese need humanitarian aid, twice as many as in 2017 and 7.7 million face severe food insecurity, the United Nations said in a report earlier in March.
“My first priority is to assess the situation on the ground, to see the enormous needs on the ground, enormous.”
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s President has called for more cooperation between the UN and the AU.
Rwanda President Paul Kagama says: “We need to work with the UN that is already present to tell us what they are already doing and have been doing for so many years. That has not produced good results, what else do they intend to do or what can we do together to make sure that situation in (DR) Congo is stabilized.”
Kagame says the dire situation in Congo needs urgent action.
“We (AU) are trying to see and we should maybe be moving faster or doing more. Faster as a region – can we find a way of doing something that would be relevant to addressing the problems in DRC as we know them, we intend to do that.”
The EU and UN says they need to raise one point seven billion dollars, nearly four times the amount secured last year, to support humanitarian activities in Congo.
