Haut-Uélé district of the Orientale province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been destabilized since the 1990s by a succession of armed groups including the Lords Resistance Army from Uganda. In September 2008, following the deployment of the Armed Forces of Democratic Republic of Congo into Haut-Uele district, the Lords Resistance Army has been intensifying attacks against the civilian population, looting towns and villages, burning down houses, abducting hundreds of children, raping and killing people. It is estimated that since September 2008, more than 500 children have been abducted, 800 civilians have been killed and an unknown number of women have been victims of sexual violence.
As a result of the intensification of these attacks, the food security situation has dramatically deteriorated. More than 160,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Crops were not harvested in December 2008, and farmers have not yet been able to prepare their fields for the next season due to fear of being attacked. Hosted by local communities, the displaced populations are putting added pressure on the already limited local food stocks. The prevailing insecurity has also caused a slowdown of trade in the region, which was already constrained by the poor road conditions and the rainy season. With limited trading and farming activities, the food security situation has deteriorated and is likely to deteriorate even further unless emergency food assistance is provided.
In order to provide a coordinated humanitarian response, United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations have increased their presence in the region and conducted rapid assessments in accessible areas. Under its current protracted relief and recovery operation (PRRO 10608.0), WFP has been delivering food to IDPs located in and around the town of Dungu by air from Entebbe in Uganda. WFP will continue to lead the logistics cluster and co-lead the food security cluster in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
This emergency operation will primarily target the internally displaced people and host communities but will also provide support to moderately malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women as required. The emergency operation will also support Congolese refugees, who are likely to repatriate from South Sudan as the security situation stabilizes. The emergency operation objectives are to:
The emergency operation will address Strategic Objective 1 (save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies) of WFP Strategic Plan (2008-2011) and Millennium Development Goal 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger).
The high landside transport, storage and handling (LTSH) costs are the result of a combination of factors including the long transit and transhipment routes of international purchases through Kenya and Uganda, the inaccessibility of Haut-Uele district addressed through the use of food airlifting/airdropping, as well as a complex security environment requiring risk consideration.
Given the robust military deployment in Haut-Uélé, the security situation is expected, in the medium term, to return to normal, allowing the displaced populations to return to their villages. The proposed emergency operation is therefore not expected to continue beyond October 2009.
