Immediate release: 4 November 2008International aid agency Oxfam is to
double its aid effort and help nearly 200,000 people caught up in the recent upsurge of fighting in eastern Congo.Oxfam is currently delivering aid to approximately 85,000 people, and staff
have been assessing several camps around the town of Goma as part of the scale-up process.At Kibati camp, four kilometres north of Goma, where around 7,000 displaced people are living in
tarpaulin and banana-leaf shelters Oxfam’s Rebecca Wynn said:“The lull in the fighting has allowed us to assess what is needed and make plans to double our
aid effort. The cease-fire has to hold if people are to get the aid they desperately need.“At Kibati camp people have basic latrines and water pumps, but these are dirty and
need to be maintained if we are to prevent disease spreading.“The people here don’t have food and they are hungry. Some people are going into the banana
fields around the camp which is very dangerous because there are drunk soldiers around. They’re risking their lives but they are hungry and desperate.“Many
people are still arriving but others are risking leaving. They want to go home. They told me, ‘We don’t want to be here. Why do we have to live in plastic shelters
when we have houses?’ But going home is a risk. They have the choice of staying here and being hungry or risking their lives going home.â€Wynn said aid work
could be stopped at any time. She said:“It’s still tense. There is a ceasefire, but that ceasefire could break. There’s still a real need for other countries to keep piling
on the diplomatic pressure.â€Oxfam currently works in four camps in Goma, where it helps 65,000 people, and trucks water to 20,000 people in Kanyabayonga, north of Goma. It is
plans to help an extra 100,000 people in area to the north and west of Goma.endsNotes to editors:
On Monday 3 November Oxfam sent assessment missions to Kibati, north of Goma,
and to Kirotshi, south of Goma.Oxfam has four foreign, 40 local staff in Goma and also works with partner organisations in the area.The public can donate to Oxfam’s work in DR
Congo by going to: www.oxfam.org.uk or phoning 0300 200 1999 More from the Oxfam Press Office at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/news
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
European Union Aid Commissioner Louis Michel addresses the media in Kigali October 31, 2008. Michel is in Rwanda for talks with President Paul Kagame after visiting Democratic Republic of Congo's President ...
