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	Violence and destruction have ravaged Great Lakes region for two decades, claiming 5 million lives by IRIN, WFP, UN News & agencies Agencies Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)   June 2014   Insecurity, funding shortfall leaves millions hungry in DR Congo.   Senior United Nations officials for the Great Lakes region of Africa are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to draw attention to continuing insecurity there, while the world body reported today that the fighting and a decrease in financial resources is causing millions of people to go hungry.   Currently 6.7 million people live in acute food insecurity which represented a “humanitarian crisis,” World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told journalists in Geneva.   Ninety-five per cent of the population in the DRC lives on less than two dollars per day, and nine per cent of children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, according to WFP.   Displaced families living in camps, most of whom are female-headed households, as well as refugees from the Central African Republic, are also particularly vulnerable.   The deteriorating situation was caused by the continuing conflict and insecurity which prevented people from growing food and a decrease in international food aid, Ms. Byrs said. In addition, low levels of government spending on socio-economic sectors such as education, health, sanitation, infrastructure and agriculture, are worsening the situation.   December 2013   Funding shortage forces UN agency to reduce food assistance in DR Congo.   Serious resource constraints are forcing the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to reduce or interrupt some of its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) beginning this month, leaving thousands of people with no food assistance.   WFP, which is funded entirely by voluntary contributions, urgently needs $75 million to continue its operations in DRC over the next six months, it stated in a news release. One out ten children in DR Congo suffers from acute malnutrition and 6.3 million people there are facing hunger and need food assistance.   Funding shortages over the last six months have meant that WFP has already had to halve the rations distributed to displaced people in North Kivu province, at a time when the overall food security situation is deteriorating in that part of eastern DRC.   In North and South Kivu and in Orientale provinces, some 500,000 food-insecure displaced people will be affected by the funding crisis, according to the agency. The provision of daily hot meals to thousands of schoolchildren is also in jeopardy, as is life-saving nutritional support to some 180,000 malnourished children, pregnant women and nursing mothers across the country.   “We are very worried about the fate of thousands of people who depend on WFP food assistance,” said Martin Ohlsen, WFP Representative in DRC. “At a time when the Congolese Government and the international community are intensifying their efforts to stabilize the eastern DRC, a suspension, even a reduction, of humanitarian assistance could seriously compromise our long-standing investment in improving food security, restoring livelihoods and building resilience.   “It’s hard not to think that the tremendous needs in the Philippines and Syria are overshadowing cries for help from less visible, under-reported parts of the world,” Mr. Ohlsen added, stressing the need for predictable funding over coming months.   WFP also noted that, amid a growing awareness about the threat of sexual violence in areas of conflict, it is working closely with its partners to ensure that measures are taken to protect women in the DRC, where rape and other violent attacks against women are rife.   Food distribution sites are chosen in close consultation with women to limit their exposure to attack and, where possible, use is made of electronic vouchers for food and ‘mobile money’ to minimize friction between beneficiaries and the communities in which they live, said the agency.   In DRC, one out ten children suffers from acute malnutrition and 6.3 million people are facing hunger and need food assistance. There are currently 2.7 million internally displaced people in DRC.   http://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/continued-support-needed-cover-humanitarian-needs-dr-congo-unicef http://www.msf.org.uk/article/drc-msf-releases-report-shocking-humanitarian-situation   November 2013   Extending peace in DRC after M23’s demise. (IRIN)   With the predominantly Tutsi rebel group M23 routed and vowing to disarm, attention is shifting to how to cement and extend peace across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and ease the decades-long suffering and deprivation of millions of civilians.   Since 25 October, Congolese troops, backed by a new UN intervention brigade, have driven M23 fighters from their fortified strongholds in North Kivu Province, in a series of surprisingly operations.   The triumph has raised hopes of better times ahead for one of the world’s most turbulent regions. Civilians in the area reportedly welcomed the M23’s defeat. A jubilant Martin Kobler, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), was filmed shaking hands with smiling residents in “liberated” villages.   But observers caution that the military triumph is only a first step towards stability in a region long plagued by lawlessness and bad governance, beset by ethnic and political tensions, and awash with weapons.   “The M23 is only one of many armed groups operating in the eastern DRC,” said Stephanie Wolters, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria. “There are many others that have long rendered the lives of the population in these parts a living nightmare, and that still need to be tackled politically and militarily.”   Experts say the reorganized FARDC, as DRC’s national army is known, and the newly offensive UN force must continue to work in tandem if the cycle of violence in eastern DRC is to be broken.   M23 is just the latest in a series of ethnic-Tutsi led militias that have operated in the hills close to the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. As many as 45 other rebel groups are currently operating across the region, where the DRC government has little control.   Militant groups have been accused of gross human rights violations, including executions, using rape as a weapon of war and conscripting children. Government forces have also been blamed for atrocities. The violence and instability have hampered efforts to extend basic services, including health care, and to alleviate poverty.   http://www.irinnews.org/report/99088/analysis-extending-peace-in-drc-after-m23-s-demise   22 October 2013   DR Congo: hit by funding shortfall, UN agency to cut some food relief operations.   Facing a $70 million funding shortfall, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that starting as early as November, the agency and its partners will be forced to scale back activities in strife-torn provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).   “The likely impact would be an unfortunate reduction of support to school children, refugees and returnees,” WFP spokesperson, Elisabeth Byrs, told journalists in Geneva.   The UN agency will be forced to scale back its area of coverage in some provinces as it has received only half of the funding it needs to continue its planned relief operations in the country over the next six months.   Unless new funds are quickly confirmed, WFP will be unable to continue meeting the needs of 300,000 internally displaced people in the eastern North Kivu province, who had already been receiving half rations for the last six months, Ms. Byrs said.   Prices of food have increased in the DRC since May 2013, especially the price of maize flour, and particularly in insecure areas such as Goma which registered an eight per cent spike.   WFP said it is prioritizing life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable groups, such as displaced women and children, and would strive to maintain those activities.   Fighting over the past year in eastern DRC has displaced more than 100,000 people, exacerbating an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region which already includes 2.6 million IDPs and 6.4 million in need of food and emergency aid.   24 August 2013   United Nations humanitarian agencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) strongly condemned the attacks that killed and wounded a number of civilians today as fighting flared between Government and rebel forces near the eastern city of Goma, and urged the parties to “take all precautions” to avoid such acts, and to allow access to relief workers.   “I condemn all attacks causing deaths and injuries among the civilian population, and remind all parties to the conflict that the indiscriminate or deliberate attack against civilians is a war crime”, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in DRC, Moustapha Soumare.   In a joint statement, Mr. Soumare, along with UN humanitarian agencies, including the UNICEF, High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP) and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “strongly condemned the killing of innocent civilians by military strikes during the fighting between the Congolese Army (FARDC) and the M23 rebel group.”   "The parties to the conflict must respect the inalienable rights of men, women and children to life. Civilians should not be targeted," said Barbara Bentein, UNICEF Representative in the DRC, who added that all forces and armed groups involved in the conflict must take care to protect the lives of all civilians in their entirety.   "More than 150,000 people have been displaced towards Goma since 2012. Goma is a place of refuge where the safety of civilians must absolutely be protected by the parties to the conflict," said Stefano Severe, UNHCR Regional Representative.   "International humanitarian law requires parties to the conflict to take all precautions to avoid exposing the civilians," he added.   "We are concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the fighting and call on the warring parties not only to spare civilians, but also to allow humanitarian access to populations in need," said Martin Ohlsen, WFP Representative in the DRC.   Aug 2013   Democratic Republic of the Congo"s women hold key to lasting peace, by Mary Robinson.   Women have suffered most as a result of conflict in DRC and the Great Lakes region – their voices must be heard.   Not a week goes by without reports of fresh fighting in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Violence and destruction have ravaged the Great Lakes region of Africa for two decades, claiming more than 5 million lives. Yet the situation rarely makes the headlines.   What strikes me is the lack of outrage and horror, particularly given the disproportionate impact the conflict is having on women and children. As I asked the UN security council last month, how can we accept a situation where rape and sexual violence – which, let us be clear, are war crimes – have become the norm?   When Ban Ki-moon asked me to become his special envoy for the Great Lakes in March, I felt a particular responsibility to the mothers, daughters and grandmothers who – since my first visit to the region, as president of Ireland in 1994 – have shared with me what they have suffered in Bujumbura, Bukavu, Goma, Kigali or Kinshasa.   In 20 years of killings, rape, destruction and displacement, these women have suffered most. Yet I believe they are the region"s best hope for building lasting peace. My job now, and the job of the international community, is to support them in every way we can. Women"s voices should not only be heard because they are the victims of the war. Their active participation in peace efforts is essential, because they are the most effective peace builders. As men take up arms, women hold communities together in times of war. This makes them stronger and better equipped to play a key role in securing real peace, as we have seen in Northern Ireland, Liberia and elsewhere.   My approach to peace-building involves not just political leaders, but all of civil society, including women. Without their full support and participation, no peace agreement can succeed. How many secret deals have been negotiated in the Great Lakes region, only to be ignored or forgotten by the signatories for lack of transparency and accountability?   I believe the peace, security and co-operation framework for the DRC and the region, signed in Addis Ababa in February 2013 by 11 African countries, provides an opportunity to do things differently. That is why I have called it a framework of hope. I have started to work on its implementation top-down, with the 11 heads of state who signed the agreement, and bottom-up, with the people of the region who will be its real beneficiaries. As the first woman to be appointed UN special envoy, I have promised to ensure that women"s voices are heard at the negotiating table.   Last month, with Femmes Africa Solidarité and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, we brought together more than 100 women from across the region – including the gender ministers of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi – in Bujumbura. One upshot of the meeting has been to ensure the consequences of sexual violence are included in the benchmarks we are developing to measure progress in the implementation of the peace agreement.   I feel inspired by the leadership shown by the women I met in Bujumbura. They are taking full responsibility for peace, security and development in the region. Reaching across national borders, they are innovative, collegial and practical. I rely on them to hold their leaders to account for the full implementation of the framework of hope.   As special envoy, I will continue to support female-led initiatives. I am pleased at the allocation of some funding to finance gender-based projects, in addition to the monies pledged for the region. I encourage the donor community to be even more strategic in its support of the framework of hope. It is crucial to demonstrate the economic benefits of a lasting peace based on development – what I call the peace dividend.   Almost six months after the signing of the peace agreement, armed groups are still roaming in eastern Congo, sowing terror and destruction. This is not acceptable. I have heard the region"s people voice their frustration and anger at the slow pace of change. However, I am confident that, with the support of civil society – including women – we can one day succeed in bringing peace to the region.   I have often heard my friend Desmond Tutu, a fellow member of the Elders, say: "I am not an optimist, I am a prisoner of hope." The women of the Great Lakes are keeping my hope alive. Visit the related web page
	Any use of chemical weapons anywhere by anybody under any circumstances violates international law by UN News, Reuters & agencies   16 September 2013 (UN News)   A United Nations team probing the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria has found “clear and convincing evidence” that Sarin gas was used in an incident that occurred on 21 August in the Ghouta area on the outskirts of Damascus and which reportedly killed hundreds of people.   “The report makes for chilling reading,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters following a briefing to the Security Council on the team’s work, which concludes that on the basis of evidence obtained during its investigation, “chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in [Syria], also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale.”   The team, led by Swedish scientist Dr. Åke Sellström, also concludes in particular that the environmental, chemical and medical samples collected provide “clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-air rockets containing the nerve agent Sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah, and Zamalka, in the Ghouta area of Damascus.”   "The results are overwhelming and indisputable. The facts speak for themselves. The United Nations Mission has now confirmed, unequivocally and objectively, that chemical weapons have been used in Syria,” declared Mr. Ban, underscoring that 85 per cent of blood samples from the sites in Ghouta tested positive for Sarin, and the majority of the rocket fragments were also found to be carrying the deadly nerve agent.   “There must be accountability for the use of chemical weapons. Any use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere, is a crime,’ said Mr. Ban, stressing: “But our message today must be more than: Do not slaughter your people with gas. There must also be no impunity for the crimes being committed with conventional weapons.”   "This is a war crime,” the Secretary-General said, stressing that the incident marked the most serious chemical weapons incident since Saddam Hussein’s attack on the Halabja region of Iraq, and the worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century. “The international community has a responsibility to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons never re-emerge as an instrument of warfare.”   "The statements by survivors offer a vivid account of the events of 21 August,” said the Secretary-General, noting that survivors reported that following an attack with shelling, they quickly experienced a range of symptoms, including shortness of breath, disorientation, eye irritation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting and general weakness.   “Many eventually lost consciousness. First responders described seeing a large number of individuals lying on the ground, many of them dead or unconscious,” he said.   Mr. Ban also said that the humanitarian situation in Syria is desperate. Food supplies are dangerously low in some places. “Families face intolerable choices between the risk of remaining in place and the risk of taking flight. Communities that once lived in relative harmony are now torn with sectarian tension.”   The vast majority of Syrians are killed in unlawful attacks using conventional weapons such as guns and mortars, with children making up a large proportion of the casualties, the United Nations-appointed human rights probe today reported, calling for a halt to weapons being supplied to Government and the rebels.   “Arms transfers should not occur where there is a real risk that they will be used in the commission of crimes against humanity, violations of international humanitarian law, or war crimes. In Syria, this is a tragic reality,” Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said as he introduced the report to the Human Rights Council.   He noted that failure to bring about a settlement to the conflict has led it to deepen in its intransigence and also to widen “expanding to new actors and to unimaginable crimes”.   As the fighting rages on, civilians continue to bear the brunt. In that context he noted civilians continue to face daily indiscriminate shelling and bombardment by Government forces, and that extremist anti-Government farmed groups have targeted civilians in attacks across the northern governorates.   “The Government has continued its relentless campaign of air bombardment and artillery shelling across the country,” he said.   Since 15 July, the Commission documented unlawful attacks in 12 of the 14 governorates, with particularly intense shelling in the cities and surrounding areas of Damascus, Homs and Aleppo.   Cluster munitions continue to be dropped on civilian areas, notably in Idlib governorate, Mr. Pinheiro said highlighting some of the findings since the latest report produced by the Commission.   Those include an attack on a school in Awram al-Koubra, Aleppo countryside where the Syrian Government dropped an incendiary bomb on 26 August, according to accounts from survivors of the attack.   Eight students died in the blaze the followed with 50 others suffering fatal burns over up to 80 per cent of their bodies.   “There is no evidence of any opposition fighters or lawful targets near the school,” the Commission concluded.   Government forces have continued to launch attacks on medical personnel and hospitals, according to a separate paper, “Assault of Medical Care in Syria”.   “The discriminatory denial of the right to health as a weapon of war has been a chilling feature of this conflict,” the Commission reported, adding that the sanctity of medical care is disrespected and the sick and wounded are targeted.   Syria has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists to work, Mr. Pinheiro said, noting a “disturbing pattern of harassment, arrest and detention” of journalists, especially foreigners.   The head of the Commission also noted an “upsurge in crimes and abuses” across northern Syria committed by extremist anti-Government armed groups along with an influx of foreign fighters, in particular Al Muhajireen.   In his statement, he also highlighted the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, particularly in the Syrian Kurdish areas, and the impact of hostilities on the socio-economic rights of Syrians.   Established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, the Commission is mandated to investigate and record all violations of international human rights law during the Syria conflict.   35 countries have called for chief U.N. investigator Ake Sellstrom, whose team is currently in Syria, to investigate the incident as soon as possible.   * Russia and China opposed language that would have demanded a U.N. probe.   Paris, Aug 21 (Reuters)   Represenatives of some 35 Countries said on Wednesday that United Nations inspectors currently in Syria should be allowed immediate access to the site of an alleged deadly chemical weapons attack.   Syria"s opposition accused government forces of gassing 1,300 poeple - in a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday. The government of President Bashar al-Assad denied using chemical weapons.   French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, called the alleged attack "a horrendous tragedy" not seen since thousands of Iraqi Kurds were gassed by Saddam Hussein"s forces at Halabja in 1988.   Amnesty International was among those groups urging the Assad government to give UN investigators immediate access to the alleged site of the chemical attack.   “The allegations of use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians," which Amnesty International acknowledged it could also not verify independently, "underscore the urgent need for the United Nations team currently in Syria to have a full mandate and unimpeded access to all locations to investigate these and any other incidents of alleged use of chemical weapons.”   “What would be the point of having a UN team of experts in the country if they are not allowed to access the sites of the alleged attacks, collect samples and investigate?”   21 August 2013   UN ‘shocked’ by allegations of chemical weapons use.   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his shock at reports of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria’s Damascus suburbs today, as a United Nations team continues to investigate the matter in other parts of the war-torn country.   Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson reiterated Mr. Ban’s deep shock at reports of chemical weapons use in Syria.   “We see the need to investigate this as soon as possible; no matter what the conclusions, this represents a serious escalation with grave humanitarian and human consequences,” Mr. Eliasson told reporters outside the Council chamber.   “This should also be seen in the larger and broader perspective, namely the great need for cessation of hostilities,” he said of the dramatic situation, underscoring that: “What this incident has shown is that we must contain this conflict,” especially given its regional implications.   He added that Mr. Ban is aware that a number of Member States, the Arab League and the European Union have expressed grave concern about the most recent reports of the possible use of chemical weapons.   Mr. Ban reiterated that the use of chemical weapons by any side under any circumstances would violate international law.   The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the reported attacks on civilians, including many children on the outskirts of Damascus are “deeply disturbing.”   “Such horrific acts should be a reminder to all the parties and all who have influence on them that this terrible conflict has gone on far too long and children have suffered more than enough,” the UN agency said in a statement.   Video footage posted online, showed people convulsing and struggling for breath. More footage shows dozens of lifeless bodies, among them many young children. The footage shows medics attending to suffocating children and hospitals being overwhelmed.   Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was clear from television images that chemical weapons had been used and called for an immediate investigation.   Opposition sources accused the army of multiple chemical weapons strikes - one in Moadamiyet al-Sham, south-west of Damascus, and more in the capital"s eastern suburbs.   The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of activists, reported hundreds of casualties.   The attack "led to suffocation of the children and overcrowding field hospitals with hundreds of casualties amid extreme shortage of medical supplies to rescue the victims, particularly atropine," the LCC said.   Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says around 3,600 patients displaying "neurotoxic symptoms" had flooded into three Syrian hospitals on the day of the alleged attacks and at least 355 of them died.   The victims all arrived within less than three hours of each other, and MSF director of operations Bart Janssens said the pattern of events and the reported symptoms "strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent".   "Medical staff working in these facilities provided detailed information to MSF doctors regarding large numbers of patients arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excess saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress," he said.   However, MSF stressed it had no scientific proof of the cause of the symptoms nor could it confirm who carried out the attack.   http://www.msf.org/article/syria-thousands-suffering-neurotoxic-symptoms-treated-hospitals-supported-msf   Chemical weapons watchdog wins Nobel Peace Prize for Syrian mission. (Reuters) - 11 Oct 2013   The global chemical weapons watchdog working to eliminate chemical arms stockpiles around the battlefields of Syria"s civil war was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.   The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a relatively small organisation with a modest budget, dispatched experts to Syria after a sarin gas attack killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus in August.   Nobel Peace Prize committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said the award was a reminder to nations such as the United States and Russia to eliminate their own large stockpiles, "especially because they are demanding that others do the same, like Syria".   "We now have the opportunity to get rid of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction...That would be a great event in history if we could achieve that," he said.   The OPCW Syria mission was unprecedented in taking place in the heat of a civil war that has riven the country and killed more than 100,000 people.   "Chemical weapons are horrible things and they must never be used and that contributes not just to disarmament, but to strengthening the humanity within us," Malik Ellahi, political adviser to the OPCW director general, told Reuters.   "It has always been our position, that quintessentially we work for peace. Not just for peace, we work to strengthen humanitarian norms."   The Hague-based OPCW was set up in 1997 to implement a 1992 global Chemical Weapons Convention to banish chemical arms and most recently helped destroy stockpiles in Iraq and Libya.   Chemical weapons can inflict considerable suffering and death, with choking, chemical burns and convulsions, and can be dispersed easily by winds making civilian populations vulnerable. They were widely used in World War One.   In 1998, at least 5,000 people were gassed to death by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the town of Halabja.   The OPCW, which has 189 member states, said Syria was cooperating and it could eliminate its chemical weapons by mid-2014, provided they received support from all sides in its civil war. http://www.opcw.org/ Visit the related web page
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