Information update on Democratic Republic of Congo security incident
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes the findings of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) fact-finding mission, which has examined the circumstances around the tragic attack on a WFP convoy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), last month.
Three people, including a WFP employee, Mustapha Milambo, the Ambassador of Italy to the DRC, Luca Attanasio, and a Carabinieri officer from the Italian Embassy to the DRC who served as a close protection officer for the Ambassador, Vittorio Iacovacci, were killed in the attack.
This incident is a stark reminder of the dangers that humanitarian personnel face in delivering assistance to those in need and WFP reiterates its demand that the perpetrators of this heinous attack are apprehended and brought to justice.
Immediately after the attack, WFP requested that UNDSS carry out a fact-finding mission. At the same time, WFP has been cooperating closely with the Italian and Congolese authorities who are carrying out ongoing investigations.
The findings of the UNDSS fact-finding mission have been handed to the Italian authorities. These findings must be kept confidential as they contain sensitive and personal information, and to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations and reviews.
WFP and the United Nations are supporting the DRC and Italian authorities in their criminal investigations into the incident and are also conducting an internal review of applicable security policies and procedures.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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