This is according to the United Nations World Food Program (PAM), which announcement On Tuesday, it stepped up efforts to provide aid to more than 210,000 people displaced by violence after a new offensive by the armed group M23 restarted hostilities earlier this month.
“This food crisis risks worsening without urgent action,” said Cynthia Jones, WFP director for the DRC.
She added that even families who sheltered those who were forced to flee are already living in emergency levels of food insecurity, “sharing their last food with displaced neighbors, pushing them all closer to total despair.”
Deprived of water and medicine
Since violence broke out in South Kivu, health facilities have been looted, medicines are unavailable and schools remain closed. Affected communities are deprived of clean water, medical care and livelihoods. Education has been severely disrupted, with more than 391,000 children out of school, according to the WFP.
As a result, many have also fled to neighboring countries in search of food and shelter. The teams support 71,000 new arrivals from the DRC in Burundi and 1,000 in Rwanda, with hot meals.
Underfunding threatens aid
WFP is trying to reach the most vulnerable displaced families and host communities in South Kivu with a survival package of cereals, legumes, vegetable oil, iodized salt and specialized nutrition to prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant or lactating women.
Although food is already prepositioned in the conflict zone, the agency says it is urgently seeking $67 million to continue aid for three months to those forced to flee the DRC and $350 million to maintain operations of all programs in the country.
“Without urgent support and additional funding, we cannot respond to a crisis that is on the brink of a food catastrophe,” Ms Jones said.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
