GREAT LAKES: UN chiefs push for more aid to region

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KIGALI, 2 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - The heads of three United Nations humanitarian agencies commended political progress in Africa's volatile Great Lakes region on Wednesday but cautioned that aid had to be increased in order to maintain stability.

The heads of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are visiting Rwanda as part of a three-nation tour to highlight the suffering of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons.

"The purpose of our visit is to become as familiar as we can, to help tell the story of the region," James Morris, executive director of WFP, told reporters after meeting Rwanda's President Paul Kagame.

"I think the issues are difficult. There has been a lot of movement of people among countries, a lot of conflict for a long time; and the food security issues are a challenge," Morris said.

Africa's Great Lakes region is emerging from a tempest of conflicts that have left millions dead and forced millions more to flee their homes since the 1990s.

The decade-long conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) killed some four million people. Some areas in the east of the vast Central African nation are still regularly terrorised by militia groups. Civil conflict in Burundi has killed 300,000 people. At least two million people, including refugees, are in need food aid, according to the UN. Rwanda, which was the scene of genocide in 1994, is home to some 43,000 refugees, mainly nationals of Burundi and DRC.

Despite this situation, the UN chiefs commended the latest political developments in the three countries, saying they lay the groundwork for stability.

"These are places that need help, and these are places whose leaders have taken ownership of the problems and the international community's investment will be productive," Morris said. "We intend to be vigorous advocates, asking the international community to do more."

In an earlier statement, all three UN agencies said their work in the Great Lakes was underfunded. They urged the international community to pay more attention to the plight of people forced from their homes by war and those who have chosen voluntarily to return home to Rwanda, Burundi and DRC.

[ENDS]