Read the latest from Refugees International's mission in the Congo on our new blog at http://refugeesinternational.blogspot.com.

On October 27, Advocates Andrea Lari and Rick Neal are leaving Washington for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to conduct RI’s third mission to the Central African country this year. The day after their arrival, millions of Congolese will go to the polls in the most democratic election for president since independence in 1960. While all eyes will be on the results that should emerge by the end of the mission on November 17, RI will take advantage of the focus on the DRC to highlight ongoing humanitarian needs and advocate for action by the new government and its international supporters to take the steps necessary to resolve the Congo’s humanitarian crisis.

In the center of the country, especially in the northern part of Kasai Oriental province, communities were torn apart by the civil war that raged from 1998 to 2003, forcing thousands to flee. As calm returned, the displaced, along with demobilized combatants, trickled home, rejoining residents who stayed put throughout the fighting. All face an uphill battle in rebuilding their lives, desperate for help with schools, markets, health care, clean water, and agriculture. Reports from the UN indicate that very little assistance has reached these remote areas. RI plans to investigate their needs to document the types of challenges that will face communities as the 1.5 million displaced people, taking advantage of the improving security, return home.

Similar challenges face the 150,000 Congolese refugees living in Tanzania as they return to their homes in South Kivu Province. RI visited some of the early returnees in March 2006 and found little assistance available once they reached their villages. Donors and the UN have since increased their efforts, and RI will see how much impact they have had.

While internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and demobilized combatants return to some areas, ongoing fighting in others continues to force people from their homes. The region around Bukavu, one of the main towns in the east, provides a particularly good example of the kind of humanitarian needs that will persist in the DRC throughout 2007. RI will visit displaced people there to make sure that donors, the UN, and humanitarian agencies understand that there are still people in the DRC who need food and shelter and medical care, despite progress towards stability made in other areas.

RI will be also looking at a few issues that have a big impact on humanitarian response throughout the country. The most important is the future of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping force. The UN Security Council will vote in February on a new mandate for MONUC, and there is a risk that some members, particularly the US, will want to downsize MONUC in the wake of successful elections. This would be a mistake, as a strong MONUC is required through 2007 to continue protecting civilians, maintaining pressure on militias to disarm, and helping people get home. Another issue is rape, which is endemic in eastern DRC, and which women simply see as an expected, if dreaded, hazard in their daily lives. The response to this catastrophe has been very weak, and RI hopes to learn more by linking up with a rape survivor project in Bukavu funded by Refugees International Japan, its sister organization based in Tokyo.

Throughout the mission, Andrea and Rick will be accompanied by the documentary filmmaker John Baynard, whose footage of displacement, need, and response will help RI conduct the most effective advocacy possible on behalf of the displaced in the DRC.