Pretoria - The government of South Africa has undertaken to bring about renewed hope and ease the human suffering in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by donating R3 million.
The money will be filtered through the World Food Programme (WFP) in its 30-month food assistance project, International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim announced on Friday.
It is estimated the project will assist 4.2 million Congolese, including the internally displaced people, by providing life-saving food to reduce acute malnutrition. It will also facilitate access to markets and education, increasing the resilience of severely food-insecure communities, particularly women and children.
Thousands of people have fled their homes to escape fighting between Mai Mai rebels and the Congolese army over a mining area on the borders of North Kivu and Maniema provinces.
In addition, almost 70 000 people have crossed the border into neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, according to the UN Refugee Agency. – SAnews.gov.za
