CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF* (22 September)
The security situation has improved, relatively speaking, in the Ituri district, which had been affected by heavy fighting throughout the past months, following the arrival of UN peacekeepers (MONUC) in early September. Their arrival has also allowed improved food aid distributions to large numbers of displaced persons who were previously inaccessible because of armed conflict in the region. Songolo and Iga-Barriere towns, around the district capital Bunia, are among those who have been reached by humanitarian agencies. The nutritional condition of the population is reported as being very poor.
A recent contribution from Japan has improved the food aid pipeline for the WFP EMOP in the various food-insecure regions of the country, but additional pledges are still needed.