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Dept for International Development

Answer

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. [119553] Hilary Benn: A DFID humanitarian adviser has recently returned from an assessment mission in Ituri. The first humanitarian priority for people in Ituri is basic security. The fighting in the area frequently targets civilians. Casualties and victims among civilians are far more numerous than those among fighters. After security, medical services, clean water, sanitation, distribution of relief items and shelter are priorities. People displaced by fighting are in the most urgent need. As a result of the assessment mission, we have allocated up to £5 million to finance proposals we expect to receive shortly from UNICEF, Save the Children and other agencies working in the area. We have already agreed a grant of £450,000 to Merlin for emergency health care in Ituri. In addition, DFID recently provided £1 million to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) for its Emergency Humanitarian Initiative in Ituri and other emergency situations in the DRC. The UK is working at different levels to try to address these needs. We are supporting the wider peace process in the DRC and are contributors to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) and the Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) to try to bring about an improvement in security.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

119553; 407 c239-40W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Armed conflict Development aid International assistance Humanitarian aid Democratic Republic of the Congo

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk