So far over 10,000 people have been killed in the civil war between the army and the irregular forces that has raged for several years in Katanga, south-eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over half of the local population, estimated at 300,000 people, have sought refuge in the forests, in the marshland and in the bush: the more “fortunate” manage to reach the borders of Zambia and Tanzania. In February this year the European Union and the UNO launched a global humanitarian action plan for the Congo, whose results have been judged satisfactory and encouraging by the authorities in Brussels (the EU contribution amounts to 45 million euros entirely administered by ECHO, the humanitarian office of the EU). Nonetheless, with a view to “granting direct aid to the more vulnerable”, the European Commission has decided to allocate a supplementary package of 5 million euros to the distribution of foodstuffs and seeds, the supply of basic utensils, and the provision of basic healthcare, “accompanied by specialist treatment for the victims of sexual violence”, the resumption of primary schooling and the reinsertion of refugees in the villages from which they come. European humanitarian aid for the Congo is added to the “fund for the support of the electoral process”, to which a further 149 million euros has been allocated: the largest EU programme of support for democratisation in Africa.
