Manono (Nord Katanga) - « Comprendre le concept de l’ilot de stabilité et la résolution 2211 ». Ce thème était au centre de la séance de sensibilisation organisée par la section de l’information publique visant les élèves de l’institut MUSOYI de Shamwana, localité située à plus de 175 Km au Sud-Est de Manono centre. Cet institut organise cette année scolaire 2015-2016 la première promotion des candidats finalistes en pédagogie générale après 3 ans d’absence de l’institut aux épreuves nationales suite aux incursions de Maï-Maï-Kata-Katanga.

Grace aux efforts de stabilisation dans la région par les FARDC avec le soutien de la Monusco pour le compte de l’ilot de stabilité de Mpiana, le processus de restauration de l’autorité de l’état devient de plus en plus effectif d’où la reprise des activités scolaires dans la zone. Au total 35 élèves finalistes sont inscrits régulièrement et parcourent de longue distance pour y parvenir.

Les élèves finalistes ont été renseignés sur la construction d’une radio communautaire dans leur localité par la MONUSCO à travers le projet à impact rapide en vue de contribuer à la création d’un alternatif à l’affrontement entre communautés en facilitant le dialogue et la tolérance (diversité des voix sur les ondes), contribuer au rétablissement de la confiance entre les groupes ethniques opposés, canaliser les messages des autorités locales vers la population et aussi contribuer aux efforts d’apaisement et de restauration d’une paix durable. « Pendant plus de 3 ans l’école était fermée, incendié par les Maï-Maï-Kata-Katanga et aujourd’hui on a repris, je peux espérer obtenir mon diplôme d’état » a déclaré un élève.
L’école ne détient aucune archive ni matériel didactique, le personnel enseignant non mécanisé néanmoins, ce personnel enseignant assure le meilleur de la connaissance individuelle.

AMURI ALEKA / Kalemie

Les Forces armées de la RDC (FARDC) affirment avoir découvert, mardi 28 avril, quatre fosses communes dans la localité de Bango, en territoire de Beni, à plus de 350 km au Nord de Goma (Nord-Kivu). Selon des sources militaires de la région, cette découverte a été faite dans un ancien camp des rebelles ougandais des ADF de baruku déjà reconquis par les Forces armées de la RDC dans le cadre de l’opération Sokola 1 (traduisez en français, nettoyez).

Le porte-parole militaires du secteur opérationnel Grand-Nord et de l’Opération «Sokola 1», major Victor Masandi Bubitende plaide pour une enquête internationale afin d’élucider l’affaire. «C’est au cours des accrochages après la fuite de Monsieur Baruku, le numéro 2 des ADF à Bango, que nos forces dans l’occupation du camp dit “Baruku”, camp Bango ont découvert 4 fosses communes remplies des personnes humaines», a indiqué major Victor Masandi.

Cet officier de l’armée congolaise affirme croire que dans ces fosses communes il y a des corps des rebelles ADF tombés au cours des accrochages avec les FARDC ou soit des otages tués avant l’arrivée des FARDC au camp de Baruku.

A (re) Lire:Beni: l’insécurité risque d’hypothéquer la tenue des élections, craint la société civile A Beni, la Monusco affirme être au courant de la découverte de ces fosses communes à Bango. Mais elle précise n’avoir pas encore eu accès à la zone pour avoir plus de précisions sur cette affaire.

La découverte de ces fosses communes intervient près d’une semaine après que la société civile de Beni a dénoncé la montée de l’insécurité dans ce territoire du Nord-Kivu.

Le dernier massacre de Beni remonte à mercredi 15 avril, où des présumés rebelles ougandais des ADF ont tué 18 personnes dans les localités de Matiba et Kinzika, en territoire de Beni. Entre octobre et décembre 2014, plus de 200 civils avaient été ainsi massacrés par des hommes armés, selon un bilan établi par la société civile locale.​ Lire aussi sur radiookapi.net:

Les experts de la commission technique mixte de délimitation des frontières entre la RDC et le Rwanda annoncent la fin des travaux d’implantation de toutes les vingt-deux bornes pour ce jeudi 30 avril. Rachidi Tumbula, un des experts de cette commission mixte, a fait cette annonce, mercredi 29 avril à Radio Okapi.

A l’occasion, il a également annoncé le début, pour bientôt, des travaux de construction des bornes à la zone neutre entre la RDC et le Rwanda afin de permettre à la commission de vérification de la CIRGL d’identifier les traversées de part et d’autre.

Il a indiqué la construction de ces bornes pourra commencer par la grande barrière.
Ce travail de la délimitation des frontières entre la RDC et le Rwanda se fait à l’aide de l’appareil GPS (Global Positioning System) qui permet à ces experts de repérer les anciennes bornes, plantées par les colonisateurs en 1911.

Après la région de Kibumba, en territoire de Nyiragongo (Nord-Kivu), la commission se trouve actuellement entre la grande et la petite barrière pour le même travail.
A (re) Lire: RDC-Rwanda: les experts installent des GPS à la frontière

«Ca fait une semaine que nous avons commencé. Le travail consistait à implanter parce que nous avons déjà identifié les bornes depuis la saison passée. Nous devrons commencer la construction or n’importe quelle construction commence par l’implantation. C’est-à-dire vous indiquez exactement là où vous avez placé les bornes de construction», a expliqué Rachidi Tumbula.

Il a indiqué que la commission a même réussi à implanter des bornes au Mont Ehu, où il y avait des tensions entre l’armée congolaise et rwandaise.

La commission technique mixte chargée de la délimitation des frontières entre la RDC et le Rwanda avait procédé, depuis une semaine, au placement des GPS (Global Positioning System) à certains endroits stratégiques des deux pays, notamment au Mont Goma ainsi qu’au Mont Kama. Le but est d’identifier à partir de ces deux points GPS, les bornes fixées par le colonisateur en 1911.

A l’issue d’une opération menée du 26 au 30 août 2014, la commission mixte avait déjà identifié vingt-deux bornes à la frontière terrestre des deux pays. Certaines bornes étaient physiquement visibles, alors que d’autres n’avaient été identifiées que grâce à leurs positionnements géographiques.

This is the first in a series of thematic papers that contribute to a project undertaken by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), International Alert and Climate Interactive to increase resilience in the context of multiple displacement. The project aims to gather evidence and improve understanding of how multiple displacement impacts the resilience of those affected in order to improve humanitarian responses to the phenomenon.

Our analysis draws on data collected in Masisi and Uvira territories of North and South Kivu provinces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between September and December 2014. We carried out 1,275 surveys - 672 in Masisi and 603 in Uvira - 80 focus group discussions and 77 key informant interviews. The research forms the first part of a three-year project, and this paper sets outs the insights gained.

We draw four main conclusions that will be explored further in our ongoing research:

Any humanitarian response that seeks to promote resilience to displacement must be designed to improve the options available to those affected and support the choices they make.

A more nuanced appreciation of the concepts of security, economic independence and social networks is a precursor to understanding and potentially guiding the decisions internally displaced people (IDPs) make.

Humanitarian programming that aims to promote resilience to displacement must be based on an improved understanding of the interplay of the security, economic and social factors that shape IDPs’ decisions.

Responses must account for the ways in which individuals, families and communities juggle these factors, and their preferences and tolerance in terms of different types of displacement and solutions.

As DR Congo takes a vital step toward eradicating the scourge of polio, Evariste and Marie-Josée tell Gavi’s Fred Tissandier why the inactivated polio vaccine is so critical to securing a healthy future for their children.

Today I met Evariste and Marie-Josée. They have been husband and wife for 29 years with three sons who go to school and are doing very well in their exams. It sounds like the perfect family and they are indeed very happy. But, as we talk, I learn that their true story is far from perfect.

Both Evariste and Marie-Josée contracted polio as young children: Evariste when he was only three years-old, his wife at the age of 8. He needs a bicycle chair to move around while Marie-Josée needs crutches to walk.

Reality

Now 52 years-old, Marie-Josée can still remember the physical pain and also how her parents divorced because of her illness. She recalls how the local neighbourhood said that a spell had been cast on her as she was the only one in the family to catch polio. She reflects sadly on the reality of growing up alone, with crippled legs that blocked her from having a normal life.

Evariste’s story is very different because his father always supported him and his family respected him in spite of his handicap. As the older son, his words were always listened to and orders followed. Now 63 years-old and retired, he looks back at his life with pride. He worked, had decent jobs and nobody would take much notice of his legs.

In contrast, Marie-Josée is much more bitter. For her it was difficult to find work. She tried to get a diploma in sewing but never finished the course. Occasionally, she sold goods at the market, but it was difficult because people did not help her. Money was always scarce.

Subsist

Today, Marie-Josée still works, sewing African rag dolls that she sells for 12 dollars each at the market.

The income lets her subsist but, with two of her sons still at school, it is not enough. She also needs to buy new braces as the ones that she wears hurt her feet while Evariste wants a new chair bicycle. His current one dates back to 1963.

Dieu Merci

Meeting Evariste at their local church was a dream come true. When Marie-Josée talks about their first meeting, there is a light in her eyes that matches the one in Evariste’s eyes. They named their last son who is now 15 “Dieu Merci” ( “Thanks God”).

Evariste and Marie-Josée explained to me that they are thankful for all the good things given to them. When I asked if they have one regret, they immediately answered that it was not being vaccinated against the scourge of polio.

Important moment

All their children have received the oral polio vaccine and they constantly advocate for immunisation. They see the introduction of the inactivated polio vaccine as an important moment for DR Congo even if they could not see the images of the launch on television as they don’t have power in their neighbourhood.

“If a vaccine had existed when we were young we would not have been like this” said Evariste.

Credit: thanks to Handicap International for their support in this story as well as the Réseau des Comités de Réadaptation (RCR) and more specifically Pauline Tshunza.

On a recent research mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IDMC analysts for Central Africa had the unique opportunity to gather data on internally displaced people who have suffered repeated displacement and to hear firsthand their stories of survival. Here, associate analyst Anais Pagot describes their experiences.

One tragic story among so many others

Armed violence and instability have displaced millions of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the last two decades. South Kivu is one of the country’s eleven provinces where up to 661,400 people have been forced to flee from armed groups and conflict as of March 2015.

Many internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Kivu provinces have been living in protracted displacement for years and according to surveys conducted in Masisi and Uvira territories, the majority have been forced to flee their homes more than once.

While on mission my colleague, Melanie Kesmaecker-Wissing, met Belcha*, a Congolese woman who has been forced to flee several times from her village. Most recently she heard gunshots, where she fled due to fear of harm to her and her children. She now lives with a host family and relies on their support to survive, as current humanitarian responses struggle to provide adequate assistance in long-term displacement situations.

When Belcha escaped several months ago, she was separated from her husband and is not sure if he is alive. She has since become the guardian to the children of her siblings—12 in total including her own. To feed her children, she works in the fields for local residents, and earns a mere 1,000 Congolese francs, the equivalent of one US dollar, per day. She would have liked to work in a “scientific job”, as she calls it, but she never had the opportunity to study.

We heard many similar stories to Belcha’s during our mission to the DRC. What these stories reveal is how repeated displacement reduces a person’s resilience and ability to “bounce back” with each subsequent displacement, as each time they flee with less and less. We were in DRC researching this phenomenon for IDMC’s joint project with Climate Interactive, the Norwegian Refugee Council and International Alert, which is funded with UK aid from the British people. The project aims to identify approaches that strengthen the resilience of people, like Belcha, who are affected by repeated waves of displacement, to find out more about how they cope, what survival strategies they use and what vulnerabilities they experience along the way.

Generosity as a way of coping

Overwhelmingly, we found that generosity and solidarity, like Belcha’s, is common among Congolese people. Here, many people live in fear that they will become displaced and they must frequently rely on strangers to host them. Indeed many of these host families have experienced displacement themselves, so are more willing to help others displaced and facing the same challenges.

Research suggests that humanitarians’ lack of understanding of vulnerabilities during a permanent crisis, like in the DRC, has led to a response which has failed to maintain or strengthen the resilience of people suffering protracted and repeated displacement.

This was certainly true of Fiavina*, another Congolese woman who we met, and who had suffered fear and hunger several times when she fled with her parents and again with her husband. She has since returned to Lweba and hosts four displaced families in her home. While she admits that this puts a lot of stress on her own family, she always tries to find ways of coping. She has, for example, given each family a piece of land so that they can grow and help to contribute to the household.

Hope for a better future

Although Belcha and Fiavina have different experiences of displacement, they both dream of a better future for themselves and their families. Belcha wants her children to be able to go to school, and access health and basic services that will allow them to “grow strong”. Fiavina hopes that the displaced people she takes care of will be able to go back to their homes one day or that they will one day be better supported by the government or humanitarian and development organisations. For them, helping others is the best way of securing a better future.

For more information on our project in DRC, read the project paper and a thematic paper on decision-making in displacement.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Thursday 4/30/2015 - 20:14 GMT

The Democratic Republic of Congo announced Thursday it had granted amnesty to around 375 ex-members of the defeated M23 rebel movement.

The rebels' 18-month war, during which they briefly seized the key eastern DR Congo town of Goma, capital of the mineral-rich North Kivu province, was brought to an end in 2013 by government troops and UN peacekeepers.

Some 1,300 rebels fled to Uganda and others took refuge in Rwanda after their insurgency was crushed.

According to decrees from DR Congo's justice ministry read out on public television, the amnesty law covers "insurgent acts", "acts of war" as well as "political offences" and requires rebels to sign a promise not re-offend.

The amnesty does not include offences like crimes against humanity, war crimes, terrorism, torture, sexual violence, use or conscription of children, embezzlement of public funds and looting.

In February last year President Joseph Kabila announced the amnesty as part of the deal to end the conflict with the rebels.

The rebels complained in August that only 31 members of M23 had been granted amnesty out of the 3,657 people who had signed a pledge not to take up arms again.

The insurgents also complained that "dozens" of their comrades were arrested after returning to DR Congo.

Of the ex-rebels benefitting from the amnesty about 30 were locked up in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 220 others in Uganda, 122 in Rwanda and four others in Goma.

While the M23 rebels were defeated, numerous armed groups still operate in a region that has been in turmoil for the best part of the past two decades.

Much of the rebel activity consists of abuses against civilians and illegal exploitation of natural resources, be it metals, ivory or timber.

hab/jm/mfp

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Kinshasa, RD Congo | AFP | jeudi 30/04/2015 - 20:18 GMT |

Le procès d'une vingtaine de personnes accusées d'avoir participé aux attaques meurtrières qui avaient surtout ciblé Kinshasa et Lubumbashi le 30 décembre 2013 s'est ouvert jeudi à la prison militaire de Ndolo, dans la capitale congolaise, a-t-on appris auprès de la défense.

"On a inculpé 23 personnes mais trois ne se sont pas présentées à l'audience, dont le +prophète+ Mukungubila lui-même", a déclaré à l'AFP Me Sylvain Lumu, l'un des avocats de la défense.

Les prévenus sont "accusés de participation à un mouvement insurrectionnel, prise d'otages et séquestration, et atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat", a-t-il ajouté.

Le collectif d'avocats de la défense s'est formé récemment et a demandé un délai de préparation à la cour, a indiqué Me Lumu.

La prochaine audience est prévue le 7 mai.

Le pasteur Joseph Mukungubila Mutombo, en exil en Afrique du Sud, a été candidat à la présidentielle de 2006, remportée par Joseph Kabila. Le 5 décembre 2013, il avait dénoncé une mauvaise gestion du pays et accusé M. Kabila, réélu en 2011, de pactiser avec le Rwanda voisin.

Le 30 décembre 2013, des assaillants se réclamant de son mouvement ont attaqué l'aéroport, la télévision nationale et l'état-major militaire de Kinshasa. Des attaques ont été menées quasiment au même moment à Lubumbashi (sud-est), la deuxième ville du pays, et à Kindu (centre).

Selon le gouvernement, le bilan de cette "offensive terroriste" était de "103 morts, dont 95 terroristes assaillants et 8 éléments des Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo".

Les 20 personnes qui ont comparu jeudi ont auparavant été détenues "neuf mois à l'ANR", l'Agence nationale de renseignement, et "sept mois à la prison militaire de Ndolo", a souligné Me Lumu, en précisant que les prévenus lui avaient semblé en bonne santé.

hab/mbb/tmo

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Highlights

• 21 displaced Fulani (aka Peuhl) herders have been released from the captivity of armed groups in Yaloké rural area.

• UNHCR reunified six IDPs from Yaloké with their family in Chad.

• In support of IDP returns in Bangui, each IDP household will receive $150 cash, one tarpaulin, three mosquito nets as well as two-month food rations for returnee households and two-month food vouchers for the most vulnerable returnee households and host families upon return to their neighborhood.

436,300 IDPs in CAR, including 43,500 in 34 sites in Bangui

13% (Funding available US$80 million against the SRP 2015 requirements of $613 million)

4.6 million Population of CAR 2.7 million People who need assistance

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, how motorbikes are helping expectant mothers fight malaria

By Eva Gilliam

A nurse in DRC travels from village to village providing medical care for pregnant women – and helping lead the effort to prevent malaria, a major cause of maternal and infant mortality.

MBANZA-NGUNGU, Democratic Republic of Congo, 22 April 2015 – As the thick early-morning clouds start to burn off after a brief downpour, and the mud begins to cake and dry on the dirt road, all appears to be calm at the five-room Nzenze Health Centre.

But there is a constant stream of patients and visitors. Five nurses work in rotation, three days on, one day off. During breaks, they sleep behind the reception counter under a mosquito net.

The Nzenze Health Area, in Bas Congo province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is linked by kilometres of dirt tracks and footpaths running over vibrant grassy hills and beneath dense forest canopy.

It is warm and humid, and the mosquitos are everywhere.

And with mosquitos comes malaria.

Reaching out

Nyakilu Mambwene, nicknamed Son, tightens the strap on his helmet and kicks his motorbike to life. He is the head registered nurse at the health centre, which lies 10 kilometres outside of the town of Mbanza-Ngungu.

“The motorbike makes it pretty easy to get to people,” he says. “Unless it’s rainy – then it can become quite dangerous. But I always get there.”

Son visits over 40 villages within a 22-km radius, educating pregnant women on the importance of neonatal check ups and general health. He also gives them tools to prevent malaria.

“Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in DRC,” Son says.

It is responsible for 59 per cent and 41 per cent of outpatient consultations in children under 5 and pregnant women, respectively; approximately half of hospitalizations in children under 5 and pregnant women; and just under 40 per cent of hospital-based deaths in children under 5.

Malaria is very dangerous for pregnant women, in particular, explains Son.

Pregnant women have a lower immunity to malaria, and many things could happen – the baby could be born underweight, or even die in utero or at birth. And the mother could suffer from severe anemia, even die. That is, if it’s not detected and treated in time.”

Son side-slips his motorbike up a hill on the wet clay track of the dense forest path onto a tarmac road, and continues to his village visits.

Malaria in DRC

While globally there has been a 45 per cent decline in maternal mortality since 1990, the reduction has not been equal around the world. According to the World Health Organization, maternal mortality rates are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where in 2013 an estimated 1 in 38 women died during pregnancy or childbirth, compared to 1 in 3,700 in the developed world.

In a country as vast as the DRC, it takes persistence and innovation to reach the most vulnerable in preventing malaria. Considering the challenges facing implementation of most activities in DRC – including insecurity in the eastern parts of the country, as well as a devastated infrastructure and a lack of a skilled workforce – malaria prevention programmes have made extraordinary progress over the past few years.

There are numerous posters and songs and stickers about malaria, but fighting the disease is not just about raising awareness – there must also be tools to treat it and block its transmission with prevention.

Mosquito nets are among the simplest and most effective means of prevention. According to the Enquête Démographique et de Santé 2013–2014, the proportion of pregnant women in DRC sleeping under a mosquito net in 2007 was just 6 per cent. In 2013, that figure rose to 60 per cent.

Prevention, prevention, prevention

Son is in consultation with Ghiselle Nsibu, a 32-year-old resident of Nzenze who is four months pregnant. This is her first medical visit since her pregnancy began.

After checking Ghiselle’s vital signs and listening to the baby’s heartbeat, Son takes a white cloth bag and mosquito net and sits across from the expectant mother. Carefully retrieving all of the contents of the family kit, Son methodically explains what each item is for.

Many of the women who come for a consultation with the nurses at the health centre are illiterate, and explanations are detailed, often leading to conversations about hygiene, family and health behaviour.

As part of her prenatal consultation, Ghiselle is tested for malaria. If she is sick, she will be treated. If she is not, she will be given a prophylaxis, usually between her sixteenth and eighteenth week, a routine practice as part of the integrated, accelerated approach to supporting prenatal health.

“These pills here, they’re called fansidar,” Son says to Ghiselle. “They will help protect you and your baby from getting malaria while you are pregnant.”

Minimal cost to the mother

There are several reasons a pregnant woman may not seek immediate treatment for malaria. On the medical side, she may not present the typical fever symptoms, so the illness may be undetected until it is in its advanced stages. From a cost perspective, going to a health centre is tiring, time consuming and expensive, particularly in rural areas, where poverty rates are high.

A lack of trained staff and stock-outs of basic medicines and tools, as well as the public’s limited means to pay for services, are some of the primary obstacles to proper health care delivery.

Nonetheless, there are visible signs of improvement.

“Many more women are coming for prenatal consultations now,” says Son. “It’s because of the price reduction for consultations, but also because they receive basic medications that can help them with simple things, that they would otherwise not be able to buy.”

An initial prenatal consultation will cost the expecting mother CDF1,500 (US$1.75). This includes a prenatal care (PNC) kit, malaria and HIV tests, malaria treatment and/or prophylaxis and vitamin supplements. Each follow-up is CDF300 ($0.33) until the child’s birth – less than 20 per cent of previous consultation fees.

When Ghiselle leaves her consultation today, she’ll have vitamin supplements for her fetus’s and her health, a preventive dose of malaria prophylaxis and an insecticide-treated mosquito net to take home. The nets are provided by the Global Fund, in partnership with UNICEF and the DRC government.

Along with the PNC kit, the centre provides two other types of family kits: an under-5 kit for mother and child health, intended for home treatment of diarrhoea and fever and to prevent malnutrition for children 0-59 months; and the household delivery kit, which helps mothers and health facilities in live births and child registration.

All three family kits are part of a Promise Renewed: Acceleration of MDGs 4 and 5. The project began its pilot phase in Mbanza-Ngungu and 10 other health zones in DRC in 2014.

With the support of the European Union, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners, the project will be rolled out to 164 other districts in all nine provinces by the end of 2016.

From prenatal to post-natal

Continuing on his rounds, Son arrives in another location to check up on some of the mothers.

“When I come into a village, everyone knows I’m here to see how the pregnant women are doing,” Son says. But as the head nurse for the health area, he pretty much checks in on everyone.

“They’ve just told me that the little one has a bad fever. It’s probably malaria, but they’ve no money to take him to the health centre,” explains Son. “I can see the under-5 kits haven’t been distributed here yet, so I’ll take him to the Health Centre and give him one there.”

Luanda - At least 15,524 Angolan refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have returned between last 20 June and 23 April this year, said Thursday the Minister of Social Welfare.

João Baptista Kussumua was speaking at the end of the 4th session of the Commission for Social Policy of Cabinet Council.

The meeting addressed, among others, the partial report on the ongoing Voluntary Repatriation Operation Process and Organisation of Former Angolan Refugees in the DRC.

He said that in the first 45 days this year about 2, 967 citizens returned to the country, including 1, 300 children.

In terms of operation, the process is going smoothly, said the minister, who assured that logistics and issues related to documentation involving the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Foreign Affairs, are secured.

«The role of media in election periods”: this was the main theme discussed in Buta, Bas-Uélé, Oriental Province, by the representative of the Public Information Office of MONUSCO, on the side-lines of the workshop on human rights and elections, held from 20 to 23 April. This training took place at the headquarters of the Radio communautaire orientale (RACOR) and was attended by three media operating in Buta.

The representative of the Public Information office of MONUSCO/Kisangani, Mr. Bilamekaso TCHAGBELE, delivered a presentation allowing the participating media professionals to revisit such things as journalistic formats, holding editorial conferences, and reporting techniques.

After that, the participants heard a presentation by André Kitenge, a Kisangani-based Radio Okapi journalist and head of the Congolese National Press Union’s Ethics and Professional Conduct Commission in Oriental Province, on the importance of observing ethical rules in reporting information, especially during election periods.

At the end of the session, one of the participating journalists remarked that if MONUSCO could organize meetings of this kind regularly, it would help journalists to improve their professional skills and be able to provide reliable, fair and balanced information and so contribute to educating the population.

Given the possible deterioration of the security situation in Burundi in light of the recent development on the upcoming presidential election, with the string of the massive flow of the persons fleeing Burundi to the neighboring countries, including the DRC’s territories of Uvira and Fizi in the South Kivu province, there is much commotion among the Congolese authorities and within the United Nations where the situation in Burundi is closely monitored.

Uvira, 27 April 2015 – The incumbent Burundian President, Pierre Nkurunziza has been designated by his party to run for the third term, which is formally banned by the Constitution and the Arusha Agreements (Tanzania). With the political Opposition’s determination to stand in Mr. Nkurunziza’s way and to defy government’s resolve to quash any popular uprising, hundreds Burundians have decided to flee and find refuge in Rwanda, Kenya and in the DRC’s territories bordering on Uvira and Fizi in the South Kivu province. The Immigration officials we met this morning at the border Post in Kavimvira (Uvira) confided to us “we have noticed massive displacement of the population from Burundi into the DRC for the past few days. Earlier we could daily register between 800 and 120 people crossing the border daily. This Monday morning, surprisingly, there were more than 1800.

As an evidence of the alarming situation, on Monday morning the Uvira Security Council met to develop a contingency plan, in response to the Burundian’s refugees’ influx into the DRC. The different security services (DGM, Police…) were requested to proceed with their registration at the border. Government immigration officials report that it is mostly young people, women and children who are fleeing Burundi with their luggage.

The national refugees commission (CNR-Uvira) registered as of last Friday, more than 2,800 Burundians, say about 800 families. Some of them had migration papers and mainly came from the provinces of Bubanza and Cibitoke, in the Ruzizi Plain; others came from Makamba, Bururi and Nyanza Lakes and crossed Tanganyika Lake by boats into the territory of Fizi. The same source reports that the fleeing Burundians said it is out of fear of the insecurity to stem from the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for next June and “the forceful conscription of the militia by the ruling party.”

Above information are corroborated by a joint UN mission in DRC (DDR-RR, UN Civ Pol, Civil Affairs and Joint United Nations Human Rights Office team) that travelled on Wednesday 22 April to Uvira, Ruzizi plain. They met with 40 Burundian refugees who told them 100 Burundians arrived a week ago; there were mainly children and women from the Hutu ethnic group. They also said those of Tutsi origin, on the contrary, rather took refuge in Rwanda, alleging they were victims of threats from unidentified armed persons, whom, they said are youth of the ruling Party (the Mbonerakure).

Come what may, the United Nations and MONUSCO in particular are closely monitoring the situation. The South-Kivu Brigade is working out scenarios to cope with the deterioration of the situation. However, everyone in Uvira and the South-Kivu hope calm will swiftly return.

Jean-Tobie Okala
Photos: Monusco/Fiston Ngoma-Jean-Tobie Okala

L’épouse du chef de l’Etat a officiellement clôturé jeudi 30 avril à Lubumbashi (Katanga) la deuxième campagne des soins gratuits. Pendant un mois, plus de trente mille consultations ont été effectuées et plus de trois mille malades opérés, notamment à l’hôpital provincial de référence, à l’hôpital militaire de la Rwashi et à la polyclinique Shalina. Trois personnes sont mortes lors de ces interventions. Pour Olive Lembe Kabila, malgré la clôture de cette campagne, certains médecins resteront encore à Lubumbashi pendant sept jours pour organiser des interventions chirurgicales. Pour des cas compliqués, les malades seront transférés à Kinshasa.

Depuis le début de l’année 2015, la province du Katanga n’a reçu que très peu de financements pour lutter contre les violences sexuelles basées sur le genre. Début avril, le Fonds des Nations Unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF) a reçu, via le Fonds central d’intervention d’urgences (CERF), plus de 58 700 dollars US pour prendre en charge 250 survivantes des violences sexuelles dans les territoires de Manono et Mitwaba. Ce financement servira à fournir, entre autres, des biens essentiels et une assistance psychosociale et médicale de ces victimes.

Les fonds reçus par UNICEF ne représentent qu’une fraction des 2 millions dollars que les acteurs estiment qu’ils ont besoin pour continuer les activités en cours.
Une grande partie ciblerait Kalemie, Malemba Nkulu, Manono et autres territoires en proie à des conflits. Ces fonds permettraient, entre autres, d’approvisionner les structures médicales en matériel approprié; renforcer le système judiciaire ; renforcer la réinsertion socioéconomique des survivantes. La lutte contre les violences sexuelles demeure l’un des « parents pauvres » de l’aide humanitaire en RDC.

Plus de 600 cas de violences sexuelles basées sur le genre (SGBV), dont 35% dans le seul district du Tanganyika, ont été rapportés durant les trois premiers mois de 2015. Selon la Division provinciale du genre et famille du Katanga, le viol représente plus de 65% des cas. Les mutilations sexuelles, la prostitution juvénile, l’incitation des mineurs à la débauche représentent les autres types de violence régulièrement recensés. Près de 52 % des victimes sont des déplacés et retournés ; 35% sont des résidents dans les zones en conflits – Malemba Nkulu,
Manono, Mitwaba, Nyunzu et Pweto- et les 13% autres sont reparties dans les zones hors conflit. La majorité de ces actes est perpétrée par les civils (48%), suivis des miliciens et des groupes armés (43%) et des forces de l’ordre (9%).

Grâce à un financement de 800 000 dollars US reçu en 2014 de l’Office d’aide humanitaire pour la Commission de l’Union européenne (ECHO) et le Département britannique pour le développement international (DFID) ainsi que d’autres mécanismes traditionnels, une poignée de projets sont en cours. D’autres acteurs mènent des projets sur leurs fonds propres dans les territoires de Kalemie, Malemba Nkulu, Manono, Moba et Pweto. La majorité de ce financement est affectée à la prise en charge psychosociale et médicale. Une partie moins importante sert à organiser des sensibilisations au sein des communautés, à la formation des prestataires et à la réinsertion socioéconomique.

Du 01 janvier au 31 mars, près de 40 cartons de kits prophylaxie post-exposition (PEP) –un carton de kit PEP peut servir 50 personnes- ont été pré-positionnés dans les centres de santé du District de Tanganyika et dans les territoires de Bukama, Malemba Nkulu, Mitwaba et Pweto. Des formations ont été également organisées à l’intention des policiers et militaires sur leur implication dans la protection des droits humains et des civils. Le Kit PEP est un traitement médical préventif qui doit commencer immédiatement après l’exposition à un virus afin de prévenir l’infection. Dans les cas des violences sexuelles, le traitement doit se faire avant 72 heures pour prévenir les maladies ou grossesses

Cependant, ces femmes victimes de viols ont besoin d’un suivi psychologique et médical, car leur état actuel nécessite une bonne prise en charge ainsi qu’un soutien pour leur réintégration sociale.
Plusieurs raisons expliquent cette faible prise en charge des victimes des violences sexuelles dans la Province du Katanga : stigma associé au viol et aux autres influences coutumières ; manque de médicament et de structures ; personnel soignant insuffisant; capacité limitée des acteurs.
En 2014, plus de 2 910 cas ont été enregistrés dans la province. Par manque de moyens financiers, seulement 29% des victimes des violences sexuelles ont bénéficié d’une prise en charge médicale. Le pourcentage des femmes qui ont reçu une assistance psychosociale ou qui ont bénéficie d’une assistance juridique n’a pas dépassé les 30 pourcent. Seulement 2% des auteurs de ces actes ont fait l’objet d'une condamnation.

Entre 2011 et 2013, le Katanga a enregistré 6 582 cas de violences sexuelles basées sur le genre au Katanga

Malgré ses hectares de terres fertiles et ses nombreux cours d'eau dont le Fleuve Congo, des millions de Congolais ne mangent pas à leur faim. L'insécurité chronique des provinces de l'Est et des faiblesses structurelles historiques ont fait que des millions de familles sont dans une lutte quotidienne pour se nourrir. L'insécurité alimentaire affecte tous les aspects du bien-être des familles. Une paix retrouvée dans les territories de l'Est et des solutions multi-facettes sont necessaires pour une révolution alimentaire en RDC.

Chiffres et faits clés

• 6,6 millions de personnes en insécurité alimentaire.

• 37 incidents contre les acteurs humanitaires.

• Boende en Equateur souffre de la malnutrition en raison de la crise d’ébola subit en 2014.

• Méningite: Plus de 1 500 cas durant le 1er trimestre 2015. La Province Orientale, l’Equateur et Katanga sont les plus touchés.

• Plus de 80 000 cas de Fièvre Typhoïde enregistré sur l’étendue du territoire national avec 44 décès.

• 856 décès sur 590 000 cas de Paludisme enregistrés aux 2 Kasaï.

• HAP 2015 : Taux de financement à 34,2% à la date du 31/03/2015

Over the past decades, the Great Lakes region in Africa, consisting of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi, has been experiencing recurring violent conflicts. Despite the many peace agreements that have been signed, humanitarian aid and political support from the international community, the violence erupts on a regular basis and the region struggles to remain stable. Which problems are at the root of the recurring violence? Which projects are currently being led by KOFF member organisations and Swiss authorities to attempt to bring an end to the violence?

With the presidential elections in Burundi fast approaching and subsequent elections in Rwanda and the DRC, this issue presents the Great Lakes region’s problems and challenges ahead through a number of reports by actors from the civil society and government institutions.

La situation des enfants sortis des groupes armés s’est nettement améliorée dans le territoire de Kalehe au Sud Kivu. Il reste toutefois des défis à relever, a conclu l’ONG «Bureau de volontariat pour l’éducation à la santé» (BVES) à l’issue d’une mission de 13 jours dans la région.

«Nous avons environ cent jeunes sortis des groupes armés qui sont en train de terminer le programme de formations professionnelles et qui vont bientôt passer à un jury officiel, avant de commencer la production dans leurs communautés respectives. Il y a encore d’autres centaines [d’ex-enfants soldats] qui ont besoins de soutien sur le plan réintégration scolaire et aussi l’intégration professionnelle», a témoigné Murhabazi Namegabe, le responsable de BVES.

Il s’est dit par ailleurs préoccupé par l’activisme des groupes armés dans la région.

Le chef de la Monusco, Martin Kobler recommande le strict respect du calendrier électoral, publié en mars dernier par la Commission électorale nationale indépendante (Ceni). Ce calendrier prévoit les élections locales en 2015 tandis que les législatives ainsi que la présidentielle en 2016.

Le représentant spécial du secrétaire général de l’Onu en RDC l’a dit au cours d’une rencontre, vendredi 1er mai, avec une cinquantaine de jeunes de Lubumbashi (Katanga).

Plusieurs questions comme la politique générale du pays, l’économie, la sécurité en province et l’emploi des jeunes étaient également débattues au cours de cette rencontre.

«Si on ne respecte pas la date de novembre 2016, ça sera un glissement. Il faut garder le calendrier électoral et de ne pas faire tout ce qui facilite un glissement technique des élections”, a indiqué Martin Kobler.

Il a également exprimé le souhait de la Monusco de voir la RDC organiser des élections crédibles, transparentes et paisibles.

Le chef de la Monusco plaide également pour que les acteurs de l’opposition bénéficient, pendant le processus électoral, de la liberté d’expression et aient également accès aux médias voire celui de l’Etat.

Martin Kobler a ensuite invité les Congolais au respect de la constitution.

L’appel du représentant spécial du secrétaire général de l’Onu en RDC intervient un mois après que le président américain, Barack Obama, avait souligné «l’importance de l’organisation d’élections dans les délais requis, qui soient crédibles et pacifiques dans le respect de la Constitution et protègent les droits de tous les citoyens de la RDC».