• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Refugees International conducting assessment mission in Ituri

NAIROBI, 13 February 2003 (IRIN) - Refugees International (RI) is conducting a humanitarian assessment mission in the Ituri District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the NGO announced on Thursday. The mission is focusing on assessing the overall situation of the displaced, with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable women and children.

It will evaluate whether recent investigations by the UN Mission in the DRC into reports of cannibalism and rape by parties to the conflict have served to reduce such abuses.

The mission will visit the towns of Beni and Bunia, and then travel into the countryside to the extent that security conditions permit. It will also visit regions of neighbouring Uganda where recent refugees from Ituri have sought asylum.

The mission is due to conclude on 28 February.

As RI reported in the first report of their Forgotten People series, Ituri is experiencing large-scale displacement as the result of ethnic conflict, often fuelled by financial interests in natural resources, that is a product of the wider civil war in the DRC. The UN estimates that 500,000 people are displaced in this region alone, and insecurity is preventing humanitarian agencies from reaching people in need.

Themes: (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition, (IRIN) Human Rights, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

[ENDS]

The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003