May 15, 1999
New York, UN - The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Republic of Congo, Georg Charpentier, has said the country is still facing a crisis that partly required 10 million US dollars to demilitarise its youth involved in militia actitivies as well as resettle the population internally displaced by the latest fighting. Charpentier Friday told a press conference at the UN that 350,000 persons were displaced from the country's capital, Brazaville and other cities during the last crisis in December.
The displaced population, he pointed out, has not received any humanitarian aid because of lack of access. Charpentier said some of the displaced population have begun returning to their homes in Brazazille and humanitarian agencies would need full support of donors to help them resettle. In addition to the problem of displaced persons, he said, ''one of the most dramatic effects of the different waves of civil strife has been the enrollment of an estimated 15,000 youths into different militia groups where they become protagonists of acts of plunder and extortion instead of contributing to productive efforts.''
Charpentier said such militia activities have created insecurity in the country with law enforcement agencies having limited capacity to control militia groups in the rural and semi-urban areas. He said plans were undwerway by humnitarian agencies and the government to enrol these youths in rehabiliation and reconstruction programmes targetted at return areas for displaced persons. He said the programme also intends to purchase guns from the population and the militia as part of the disarmament efforts. Congo has been bedevilled since 1993 by spates of fighting between militia forces loyal to rival political groups.
