Republic of Congo: UN rushes relief flight to war-torn Pool region

The United Nations has rushed a relief flight carrying tents, blankets and other basic necessities to help ease the severe humanitarian crisis in the Pool region of southwestern Republic of Congo - a desolate, battle-scarred area which has been sacked and looted by rebels.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) organized the flight from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Brindisi, Italy, following a series of assessment missions to the Pool region. There has been sporadic fighting throughout the Republic of Congo for the past decade, and while peace has been restored in the country, the Pool region still suffers from the ravages of war, the agency says.

Recent bloody clashes between Government forces and Ninja rebels displaced thousands and rendered the region virtually inaccessible to relief workers. This was followed by a year's worth of large-scale looting from March 2002 to March 2003. The area remains under UN Security Phase IV and the humanitarian crisis is acute.

OCHA reports that the infrastructure has been completely destroyed, sanitation is seriously lacking, the health and nutritional situation is of grave concern and children are dying of acute malnutrition. Reconstruction remains a challenge for the population; due to large scale looting, many are without working tools such as hoes, machetes, and axes. In some areas, people must walk over 60 kilometres to reach health centres.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity and Humanitarian Action, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is estimated to be up to 100,000. This number is expected to increase, as the population which fled into the forest to escape fighting returns to their villages, only to find that their homes have been destroyed and their crops devastated. The health situation is also a major concern, and relief workers on the ground report diseases such as measles, skin diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria.

The humanitarian community requested that OCHA organize a humanitarian flight to the capital, Brazzaville, for the delivery of non-food items for distribution to the most vulnerable in the Pool region. Along with blankets and other the items, the flight will deliver water storage and distribution equipment, sanitation items, and kitchen supplies and is expected to arrive in Brazzaville today.