CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF* (13 February)
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), although there remain serious security hazards including armed conflicts in certain parts of the country, the overall security situation DRC has improved since the arrival of UN peacekeepers in early September, leading to improved food aid distribution to internally displaced persons and returning refugees. Songolo and Iga-Barriere towns, around the district capital of Bunia in the northeast, are among those reached by humanitarian agencies, which have reported the nutritional situation of the population as very poor. Growing instability in Katanga, in the south-eastern part of DRC, has been reported.