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Source App: [Over 50,000 displaced in Katanga identified - Inbox - Netscape Folder]

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Over 50,000 displaced in Katanga identified

Sat, 21 Aug 1999 13:08:12 +0200

"serv. informazioni Congosol" <congosol@neomedia.it> To:
"serv. informazioni Congosol" <congosol@neomedia.it>

Over 50,000 displaced in Katanga identified

A two-week assessment mission in northern Katanga identified more than 54,500 displaced persons in the area.
The mission, sponsored by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was the first for which the UN and its humanitarian partners had obtained "full and unconditional access" to areas affected by population displacement since the onset of war.
Over 28,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were registered in Lubumbashi, of whom only 3,300 area were being assisted, the team found, adding that the influx of IDPs into the area was continuing. An estimated 125,000 residents of Manono area were also believed to be dispersed in "hardly accessible" areas of Kiluba. High morbidity and mortality among children was reported in most displaced communities assessed.

The assessment mission noted that the coping mechanisms of host communities in Katanga were "seriously weakened" and they had difficulty supporting the displaced.
Several IDPs and host communities were found to need protection from arbitrary displacements, extortion, looting by retreating military elements and reprisals by belligerents.
Vulnerable unaccompanied minors constituted a significant proportion of many displaced communities.

In Nairobi on Wednesday, it was reported that the church's capacity to support "vulnerable populations" had been diminished by repeated looting and destruction since November 1998, but that the provincial Catholic Church had been identified as a viable partner for the implementation of emergency humanitarian interventions through its humanitarian branch, CARITAS. The mission team had proposed an immediate and 'medium short-term' $490,000 plan of action to stabilise the humanitarian situation in Katanga by providing emergency medical and food assistance, implementing family reunification activities, promoting respect for the rights of the displaced, and protecting them against arbitrary displacement.

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