The International NGO World Vision and two UN agencies have begun evaluating a joint food-aid delivery to 44,000 war displaced now living in Ankoro, in the territory of Manono, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last Friday.

The Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) has suspended relations with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the capture of the eastern city of Uvira on Sunday by Mayi-Mayi militias who, the RCD alleges, were backed by Kinshasa forces.

A new study by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Planning and Reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has shown that the condition of women and children in the country has not improved since the last such study was carried out in 1995.

The UN refugees agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday it was "extremely worried" that a possible battle for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congolese town of Bukavu or a counter attack to take Uvira could lead to more population displacement into Burundi and southwestern Rwanda.

Some 7,000 Congolese refugees have arrived in Burundi in recent days, with more expected to follow if fighting escalates between rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The United Nations has warned that an upsurge of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is putting the country's peace process under severe strain, heightening fears that the recent withdrawal of foreign occupying forces without sufficient international safeguards will leave the region in chaos.

Congolese tribal fighters backed by the government seized control of a strategic eastern Congolese port from rebels Sunday after two days of heavy fighting, a rebel official said.

An experienced medical coordinator within the NGO sector is required to manage medical activities on our primary health care programme in Maniema. Current project activites focus on improving the quality of basic curative services including limited support to secondary referral level care, intensifying maternal and child health services through the introduction of IMCI and SMI strategies, piloting community based malaria control activities, introducing cost-recovery systems and strengthening the health service management capacity of Bureaux Centraux des Zônes de Santé (BCZS).

"Press freedom is very limited in the territories under the RCD's control. Many journalists have been arrested, threatened or assaulted in the region since the start of the conflict," notes RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to RCD President Adolphe Onusumba Yemba.

The International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) is seeking a skilled field intern who will provide support to the IFES field offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The position will last for one semester or over the course of one summer with a minimum of thirteen weeks spent in the DRC.

Calm has reportedly returned to Shabunda Centre in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following large civilian displacements that occurred in the wake of the recent withdrawal of Rwandan-backed rebels and the invasion of Congolese Mayi-Mayi fighters, who took control of the area.

IRC has operated a multi-sector program in the South Kivu region of DR Congo since early November 1996. IRC has been active in health, water and sanitation, shelter construction, structural rehabilitation and the medical care of unaccompanied minors. In response to this tremendous need, IRC Bukavu is preparing a primary health care support project for Kabare. IRC will help re-establish the health care system in this zone to reduce the excess mortality experienced there.

This is an immediate short-term appointment for a period of three to four months to augment the Africa Division's research on DRC while the search for the full-time DRC Researcher is underway (the Interim Researcher hired on this short-term basis may also request consideration as the DRC Researcher). The researcher will be based in one of HRW's offices (New York, Washington DC, London or Brussels) and should be prepared to travel frequently to the region to monitor violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in DRC.

An international media watchdog, Reporters sans frontieres (RSF), has said it would hold the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila "personally responsible" for the continuing deterioration of the health of a journalist imprisoned in early September. Delly Bonsange, editor of the daily newspaper Alerte Plus, was admitted to Mama Yemo Hospital in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, on 26 September for emergency care following the continued decline of his health due to lack of treatment for diabetes.

Warnings are being sounded that the withdrawal of Rwandan, Ugandan and Zimbabwean forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo could leave behind instability and factional conflict.
Related Link: http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,49657.jsp

This is an immediate short-term appointment for a period of three to four months to augment the Africa Division's research on DRC while the search for the full-time DRC Researcher is underway (the Interim Researcher hired on this short-term basis may also request consideration as the DRC Researcher). The researcher will be based in one of HRW's offices (New York, Washington DC, London or Brussels) and should be prepared to travel frequently to the region to monitor violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in DRC.

A UN journalist arrested a week ago in the northwestern DRC city of Gbadolite by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) was released without condition on Saturday, the UN's Radio Okapi announced. Franklin Moliba-Sese, who works for the radio, said he had not been physically harmed, but he was tired from his ordeal.

A journalist with the UN peace-building radio network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been arrested in the northwestern city of Gbadolite by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) of Jean-Pierre Bemba. They were angered by a report of Moliba's on the wretched living conditions of thousands of child soldiers serving in the MLC army.

Local government administrations installed in occupied provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by rebel forces backed by Rwanda and Uganda survive through a war economy, with mineral, agriculture and forest resources extracted and sold to multinationals via Rwanda and Uganda, according to a paper on local governance in conflict situations. The result, figures presented by the paper show, has been a trading boom for Rwanda and Uganda since they became involved in the war that has engulfed central Africa.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has recommended establishing a headquarters for the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC) in Kisangani to enable it to shift "its centre of gravity" to the eastern part of the country. The headquarters would enable it to coordinate MONUC activities in the east and to spearhead disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration in the region, he said in a report on the mission.