UN calls for additional funds to aid victims of volcanic eruption in DR of Congo

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has called for an additional $21 million to fund ongoing relief efforts for victims of last month’s volcanic eruption in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In a donor update released Tuesday, OCHA said the funds would be used over the next three months primarily for education, monitoring of seismic activities and providing food and temporary shelter to the people affected by the 17 January eruption of Mount Nyiragongo near the Rwanda border.

OCHA said there are currently 120,000 homeless people in the Goma area, with another 30,000 scattered in locations in both the DRC and Rwanda.