United Nations Radio

The United Nations special envoy for the Great Lakes region, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, today started his first round of consultations with regional leaders on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He began his mission in the Angolan capital Luanda. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the Congo, thousands of people remain displaced. UN Radio's Gerry Adams reports.

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR is preparing to move 60,000 people displaced by the recent conflict who are now sheltering in two camps in Kibati, north of Goma the capital of North Kivu. UNHCR says these camps are too close to the frontline. Preparations are now under way to relocate these people to a new site called Mugunga III. The refugee agency says the voluntary transfer of the internally displaced people is expected to begin next week. Meanwhile, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says distribution of non-food relief items continued today in Kibati.

Ron Redmond: There have been blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, soap, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, all being distributed. This follows, of course, WFP food distribution. Supplies are being brought in by both road and air. Yesterday, a UNHCR-chartered aircraft landed in Goma after leaving Entebbe in Uganda earlier in the day.

Gerry:In Rutshuru and Kiwanja 12 trucks carrying food provided by the World Food Programme arrived safely and the distribution started today. WFP spokesperson Emilia Casella says 12,000 people are receiving the rations and close to 40,000 will be receiving the food in the coming days.

Emilia Casella: This is a 15-day ration of maize meal, beans, cooking oil, and salt and very much needed by the people there who have been waiting for it for quite some time. The distribution is being carried out by our partner Caritas.

Gerry:Emilia Casella says the food is now coming in for the displaced people in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Emilia Casella: We did on Wednesday receive a barge carrying 65 metric tonnes of food from Bukavu, and we are getting up to about 20 trucks a day now out of Kampala, Dar Es Salaam, and Kigali.

Gerry:While some displaced people are beginning to receive relief assistance, problems persist in eastern Congo. The spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Elisabeth Byrs, says relief workers are still unable to reach thousands of displaced people in that area.

Elisabeth Byrs (French with English translation)

Looting continued in South Lubero, notably in the villages of Kirumba and Kanyabayonga which were ransacked on the nights of 12 and 13 November. Equally, security remained a concern for humanitarian workers in the Kibati camp. Actually there are discussions between United Nations officials and local authorities regarding the protection of the people in this camp.

Gerry:United Nations agencies are also worried about the spread of diseases caused by unsanitary conditions in the camps for the internally displaced people in the Congo.

Elisabeth Byrs (French with English translation)

We are equally concerned about cases of cholera which have tripled in the town of Goma since October. There are 997 cases of cholera which have been recorded in North Kivu since October. In Minova, 117 cases of cholera have been recorded last week against 108 reported the previous week. OCHA is concerned about this.

Gerry:The World Health Organization and its partners have launched an operation to control the cholera outbreak in a number of areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. For UN Radio, I am Gerry Adams.

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