The Federal Foreign Office has made available a further 1.6 million euro to fund emergency aid for refugees and internally displaced persons in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The money will be used to provide emergency accommodation and medical care for people who have fled outbreaks of fighting in their villages and home districts. It will help fund projects run by the German non-governmental organizations Caritas, Ärzte ohne Grenzen and Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe. The work carries considerable risks owing to the remoteness of the project sites and the difficult security situation. In January 2010 the Federal Foreign Office had already made 500,000 euro available for projects in the Congo.

The humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa remains critical. According to UN figures, over two million people are internally displaced. The situation is particularly dire in the country’s eastern Kivu Provinces, where attacks by the rebel FDLR faction continue. A similar situation exists in the north-eastern Orientale Province, where since early this year the civilian population has repeatedly been attacked by the so called Lord’s Resistance Army. There are also pressing humanitarian needs in the Equateur border region and the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, where since the beginning of the year some 200,000 people have sought shelter.

For more information on the humanitarian assistance provided by the Federal Foreign Office please consult: