GENEVA
The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting and lack of aid funding, the UN World Food Program (WFP) warned on Friday.
The crisis in eastern DR Congo has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, Cynthia Jones, WFP’s country director for DR Congo, said at the UN Geneva Office's weekly press briefing via video link.
She noted that UN aid agencies have faced severe challenges, particularly in provinces overrun by M23 rebels, allegedly supported by Rwanda, while funding shortfalls for humanitarian operations have further deepened the crisis.
Help could be provided more easily if air access were re-established, as two airports in M23 areas "have been closed basically since the end of January," Jones said.
She went on to say that the WFP is urgently calling for a humanitarian air corridor to be established.
The alert follows the release of a report by UN-backed food insecurity experts at the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification platform (IPC), warning that nearly 25 million people are experiencing high levels of food insecurity.
Jones added: "This means what for families? It means that they're skipping their meals, depleting all of their household assets. They're selling off their animals."
She underlined that the WFP is only able to support a fraction of those in need, reiterating an appeal for $350 million to support emergency food and nutrition assistance over the next six months.
"Without it, we will have to make further cuts, reduce (assistance) even further, down to 300,000, which is only 10% of the three million in need," Jones noted.
The rebels and the government signed the Declaration of Principles ceasefire deal in Doha in July.
But fighting continues between government forces and the M23 rebels, with each side accusing the other of violating the ceasefire.
Nearly 7 million people in Congo are internally displaced, according to the government.
However, the M23 rebels claimed last week that “there is no longer any humanitarian emergency” in the areas under their control, “since all displaced persons have returned to their places of origin.”