|
31st January, 2008
As many as 45,000 people are dying a month in the Democratic Republic of Congo - making it the world’s deadliest humanitarian crisis, according to a report released this month.
A survey by the International Rescue Committee - which also included input from Australia’s Burnet Institute - found that conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Central African nation had claimed an estimated 5.4 million lives since 1998.
George Rupp, president of the IRC, said that in terms of fatalities, the conflict and it’s aftermath surpassed all others which have occurred since World War II.
“Congo’s loss is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark or the state of Colorado perishing within a decade,” he said. “Although Congo’s war formally ended five years ago, ongoing strife and poverty continue to take a staggering toll. We hope (a recent) peace agreement in North Kivu will mean an end to the hostilities and a restart of reconciliation and recovery efforts.”
In the most recent survey period - covering from January 2006 to April 2007 when researchers visited 14,000 households in the country - nearly half of the estimated 727,000 people who died in excess of normal mortality rates were among children under the age of five.
~ www.irc.org
- DAVID ADAMS
|
