UN Gives $5 Million in Aid To DRC

The United Nations have announced that they are donating US$5 million in aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to aid the people in the Kasai region who have been devastated by the recent increase in military violence.

Violence broke out in the region in August of last year, after the government’s security forces killed Kamwina Nsapu, a rebel military leader and tribal chief who rebelled against President Joseph Kabila.

The violence in the area has left thousands displaced and hundreds dead.

“Today, throughout the three [areas of] Kasai, we count 200 000 internally displaced people, 32,000 returned, and more than 400 dead, including 66 in the month of January alone [sic],” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the DRC said in a statement.

The US$5 million aid grant, which was released by the Central Emergency Response Fund, will aid the people displaced in the area. The organisation said that the money will be enough to help approximately 108 000 people over the next six months.

The violence in the area has only escalated since August. The government has not yet been able to reach a truce with the militant rebels.