UN launches $64.5-million flash appeal to provide emergency aid to hundreds of thousands of victims in Kasai, Lomami and Sankuru provinces
The United Nations has issued a flash appeal of $64.5 million to provide emergency assistance over the next six months to hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s southern Kasai, Lomami and Sankuru provinces.
The United Nations reports that more than 1 million people have been forcibly displaced since violence erupted in August, when government soldiers killed a local tribal leader in Kasai province. Over the past eight months, the violence between militia and government forces has intensified and expanded to Lomami and Sankuru provinces.
Spokesman for the U. N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, said children are at extreme risk and in need protection. He said many women have been raped and need medical care and psychological counseling.
