World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Hundreds of troops from opposing sides have been moving into new positions around Goma, a strategic, contested city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid organizations said Sunday, raising worries of yet another explosion of violence.

The World Food Programme provided emergency food rations to about 81,000 displaced people in and near the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, after fighting in the region prompted residents to flee. (..) A “precarious security situation” may make it difficult to reach people needing aid beyond Goma, according to the WFP.

Tens of thousands of displaced villagers who fled the fighting are on the march with their belongings, and someone has to take care of them. (..) In these sorts of crises, agencies work together. The Red Cross is already here with water; the World Food Programme is planning high-calorie meals; Catholic Relief Services is looking at shelters.

The relative calm of the early morning was shattered Tuesday in Goma, the chief city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, when heavy fighting resumed between rebel groups and the Congolese army. (..) Rwanda will close the border crossing if asked to by the Congolese government, but that such a move could have humanitarian consequences. Tens of thousands of Congolese, already displaced by previous rounds of fighting in the volatile region, have fled camps around the edges of Goma, according to UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) officer Laura Parker said that a convoy of trucks that WFP sent to Walikale territory in North Kivu province in early September took 11 days to cover 250km. (..) “We got the alert in February that there were 86,000 newly displaced in the territory needing assistance,” said Parker. “We had already started to mobilize our trucks at that time, but due to security and weather conditions we were not able to get trucks out there till July, and the recent rains are a severe hindrance.” The agency is now considering other transportation options for Walikale.

A spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Yvon Edoumou, says that since April around 275,000 people have been forced to flee their homes by fighting between the government and rebels in North Kivu province. (..) "It’s clear that there are a number of displaced people who, because they may still be living in the bush, may not be receiving help," he said. "But all the NGOs and agencies, particularly WFP, the main food agency, have maintained operations distributing aid throughout the province to all those camps."

The World Food Program (WFP) is urgently appealing for $46 million to provide life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile east. (..) People feel terrorized, said World Food Program spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs, not knowing whether their village will be the next to be attacked and pillaged by armed groups, who typically arrive at night.

Herekeza, who walked across the Gisenyi border crossing on Wednesday afternoon, hoped to receive treatment from Red Cross medics at Nkamira transit refugee camp. She and many others have been caught in the crossfire of clashes between the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and soldiers loyal to a renegade General Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes. (..) The UN World Food Programme is supplying food to the camp.

In North Kivu, the World Food Programme feeds the hungry but also contributes to the protection of the environment and creates jobs through a recycling project. (..) The initiative was launched in August 2008 by the Congolese Wildlife Authority (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) to create job opportunities and to protect the nearby Virunga National Park. (..) “WFP's support for this project is an outstanding example of how recycling works to halt deforestation and improve livelihoods around the park,” says programme manager Balemba Balagizi.

The United Nations refugee agency reported thousands of people have fled from recent attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Orientale province. (..) UNHCR spokeswoman Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba said the most recent attacks took place in the village of Bagulupa, 55 kilometers east of Dungu. (..) Lejeune-Kaba said the UNHCR has distributed basic emergency items, such as plastic sheeting, sleeping mats and kitchen sets to some 200 newly displaced. She said the World Food Program is providing food and private agencies medical care. But she noted more aid is needed.