Over the past weeks, civilians have continued to suffer from violent attacks in several areas of northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan. Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have been perpetrating acts of extreme violence on the population. This violence was further exacerbated by the operations conducted against them by national armies of countries in the region.

MSF teams have been providing assistance to the displaced and resident populations, by offering free healthcare and psycho-social support, and by improving the people's living conditions.

Democratic Republic of Congo

According to official estimates, around 250,000 people have been displaced by violence in northern DRC. In general, the situation is slowly deteriorating and humanitarian assistance is not sufficient to respond to the needs of the people. The lack of security in the region, especially outside the main towns, limits the level of assistance that MSF and other relief agencies can provide. It is also extremely difficult for the population to access health facilities.

In Dungu, a town in the north-eastern Haut-Uélé district of DRC, an MSF medical team is carrying out an average of 300 consultations a week in two health centres which are being rehabilitated. In Dungu hospital itself, the surgical team is operating on about 20 patients per week. MSF is also providing psychological support to people who are suffering from stress due to the permanent violent context.

In Doruma, an isolated and insecure town on the Sudanese border, MSF is planning to distribute cooking utensils and basic items to about 4,000 people. The medical team is also currently setting up a project here. The team will increase the health services offered to the population, offering psychological care to traumatised people, medical care to survivors of sexual violence and will also provide treatment for people with sleeping sickness. MSF is supporting the Niangara reference hospital as well as the health centre in Wawé, some 3km from the town. On average, MSF medical teams carry out 800 consultations and hospitalise about 30 patients each week.

In Faradje, where MSF is also supporting a hospital, more than 400 patients come for consultation each week and 30 patients are hospitalised. The main diseases treated in these areas are malaria, acute respiratory infections, sexually transmitted infections and stress-related diseases. MSF teams have set up a significant psychosocial programme to help the local people deal with stress and traumatising experiences. Seventy-three children who were abducted by armed men are now receiving psychological and medical support in Faradje. Over the last six weeks, MSF has also helped 35 victims of sexual violence in Niangara.

MSF has handed over its activities in the Ariwara and Imboko areas in Ituri district to local health authorities. MSF will still continue to closely monitor the humanitarian needs. More than 20,000 thousand people displaced by violence in Faradje and Aba had fled to these areas.

Further west around Dingila village in Bas-Uélé district, MSF teams have distributed plastic sheeting, blankets, mosquito nets and jerrycans to around 10,000 displaced people. In this area, the population has very limited access to healthcare and clean water. An MSF team of eight remains ready to respond to any emergency situation in the area. About 130 national and 21 international staff are currently working in MSF projects in Haut and Bas Uélé districts of DRC.

Sudan

Tens of thousands of Congolese have sought refuge across the border in Southern Sudan. Ugandan rebels have also carried out attacks on a number of villages there, forcing thousands of Sudanese people to also flee their homes for safety.

In Western Equatorial State, MSF teams are offering assistance to Congolese refugees and Sudanese people displaced by rebel violence. Based in Yambio town, the MSF team has provided primary healthcare and psychological support to the people in Yambio, Makpandu, Naandi and Ezo.

Since February, MSF medical teams have carried out 2,600 consultations and provided psychological support to more than 300 people. However, in the last month, it has been impossible to access Ezo due to continuous LRA attacks.

Since February MSF teams had also been assisting more than 7,000 Congolese refugees in Libogo and Nyori, in Central Equatorial State. Many of these refugees had fled DRC pre-emptively, fearing attacks by the LRA. They either integrated themselves within the resident Sudanese community, constructing local shelters, or sought refuge in the open air, underneath trees or in school buildings.

A refugee camp has been set up by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees near Nyori to house the refugees seeking shelter in Nyori village and in Libogo in one place. MSF built a primary healthcare clinic in the camp, where each week the doctors and nurses carried out an average of 500 consultations, primarily for maternal healthcare, and treated people for conditions including malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections.

MSF also vaccinated children against measles and improved the water and sanitation situation. After meeting the most urgent needs of the refugees, and fully establishing the medical clinic in the refugee camp, in June, MSF teams handed over the project in Central Equatoria to an organisation called ‘Across’.

MSF teams regularly visit Nyori and remain ready to respond if there is another large influx of refugees or displaced people. About 28 national and four international staff are currently running the MSF project in Western Equatorial State in Southern Sudan.