DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE
SCOTLAND NEWS RELEASE
Aid
Agencies join up to launch Congo Crisis
Appeal
Daniela
Nardini calls on Scots to donate to save lives
Leading Scottish aid agencies have today
[Thursday] responded to the growing humanitarian crisis in the eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by launching a major fundraising appeal and
calling on Scots to make a donation to help them save
lives.
Award winning Scots Actress, Daniela
Nardini, has backed the appeal launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee
(DEC) Scotland.
Donations can be made by calling 0370 60
60 900, going online to www.dec.org.uk or at any high street bank, post
office, Oxfam or Save the Children shop.
More than 250,000 people have been
forced to flee their homes to escape the fighting in recent weeks, adding to
more than one million already displaced as a result of
conflict.
Agencies that make up the DEC are
already delivering life-saving food, water, shelter and emergency medical
supplies to those affected, but the scale of the crisis means much more is
needed.
Speaking at the appeal launch in
Glasgow, Daniela
Nardini, said:
" Hundreds of thousands of innocent
people have been caught up in the unfolding crisis in the Congo. They are homeless and vulnerable and
need our help in this very difficult time.
" That is why I am backing this appeal
and calling on the people of Scotland to do likewise. The
situation in the DRC will be made worse by the onset of the rainy season,
meaning that those made homeless are becoming ever more at risk. Already
weakened by hunger and desperation they now risk falling prey to diseases such
as cholera. That is why we need donations urgently.
"
Chair of the Disasters Emergency
Committee Scotland, Mhairi Owens, of
Concern Worldwide, who has previously visited the area affected by the current
crisis, said:
" The people I met in North Kivu area of the DRC were generous people who
have been trying to live peaceful lives and build futures for their children,
just like people in Scotland. Please do what you can to
help them.
"
We need the Scottish public's support to raise the funds that help us make the difference
on the ground. Donations made in
Scotland can help save lives in the
DRC. Its as simple as that."
Speaking from the DRC, Juliette
Prodhan, who grew up in Glasgow, and who is Oxfam's Country Director in
country, said:
" Since 1998, over five million people
have died as a result of the conflict in the DRC, a number equivalent to the
entire population of Scotland.
" More than 250,000 people have been
displaced by the current fighting, adding to over a million who were already
displaced. These people are in urgent need of safety, food, water, shelter,
blankets and basic supplies such as cooking materials and medicines. Aid agencies are getting supplies to as
many people in need as we can, but
we urgently need funds to ensure we can help all those who most need our
assistance."
Fatou Mbuyi, of the Congolese community in Scotland, added
her support for the appeal saying.
" Myself and other Congolese nationals
in Scotland are thinking of home and of
the crisis our friends and families are swept up in. The safety and wellbeing of those who
have left their homes is a major concern.
Many of them have fled without any belongings and among them will be the
elderly, sick and disabled.
" We welcome the launch of this appeal,
and ask that everyone in Scotland gives a donation. The time
to act is now, our people need your help. Your donations can help ensure that
the ordinary people of the DRC survive this difficult time."
Contact: Malcolm
Fleming, Oxfam: 0141 285 8854
Beverley
Kirk, Save the Children:
0131
527 8244
Eileen
Clarkson, Oxfam: 0141 285 8859
- The
DEC is made up of the following aid agencies: Christian Aid, Concern
Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Oxfam Scotland, Red
Cross, Save the Children and Tearfund, Action Aid, CAFOD, Care International,
Merlin and World Vision. - Aid workers on the ground are
reporting:
- Many people displaced for the
second, third or even fourth time by conflict. - Thousands of children living in
spontaneous settlement camps, where they are at increased risk of being
physically and mentally abused. - World Vision estimate there are
around 5,500 former child soldiers in the camps, who are vulnerable to being
re-recruited by the warring militias. - Extremely high levels of rape and
gender-based violence, with poor security to protect girls and women in the
camps. In the town of Kanyabayonga, Oxfam reported a ten fold
increase in the number of rapes reported at local hospitals and clinics
between May and the beginning of November. - A
significant increase in child malnourishment. Before the latest upsurge in
violence, nutrition experts were admitting one or two malnourished children
per day at the World Vision nutrition centre in Rwanguba, east of Rutshuru.
Since fighting devastated the rebel-held territory near Rutshuru, between
eight and ten children have been arriving every day.
Beverley Kirk
Media Officer (Scotland & North of
England)
Save the Children UK
t: 0131 527 8244 Save the Children, Prospect House, 5
Thistle St, Edinburgh, EH2 1DF
www.savethechildren.org.uk
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