KINSHASHA JULY 25, 2017(CISA)-United Nation Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’ Brien has urged the international community to scale up relief funding in the country.
This, he said would help save millions of people suffering from violence, diseases and malnutrition.
“I urge and encourage the international community not to let down the millions of people in need in the DRC. How many more clues do we need to step up? This is not just insufficient, it is unacceptable for the global community to leave this very real suffering of the Congolese people unaddressed just because of a shortage of money,” UN News quoted O’ Brien as saying July 21 after concluding a two-day visit into the country.
During his visit, Mr O’ Brien visited a school compound where NGOs are providing protection and recreational activities to some 1,000 unaccompanied minors and expressed concern over malnourished children in the compound.
“I am deeply concerned for the health of these children, many have been stunted by malnutrition…all we need now is the funding,” Mr. O’Brien said.
According to UN, some 3.8 million people are now displaced within the DRC. An appeal for $748 million launched earlier this year has so far received less than 25 per cent of funding, the lowest level in the past 10 years.
The violence in five provinces that make up the Kasai region has also pushed thousands of children out of school.
Some 600 cases of sexual-based violence have been reported since 2016, while several schools and health clinics have been made temporary shelters for the displaced.
