United Nations, Feb 1 While calm is being restored in Goma, the key eastern city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the risk of disease outbreaks, including cholera and Mpox, increases on the outskirts, according to the United Nations officials.
"In Goma, currently, the situation remains tense and volatile, with occasional shooting continuing within the city, but I would say that overall, calm has been gradually restored," said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix at a press briefing on Friday.
"Water and electricity have been restored in much of the city, but we continue to grapple with the challenge of unexploded ordnance … a very serious obstacle to freedom of movement," he said.
Runways at the city's airport sustained significant damage in the recent fighting and are unusable. Aid cannot be flown in as only roads into neighboring Rwanda are open, and the domestic arteries are closed, Xinhua news agency reported.
Lacroix said the M23 rebels and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) continue their march on Bukavu City, the capital of South Kivu province.
"That is, of course, a matter of concern," he said.
Reminded of threats the DRC's enemies made to march on the capital of Kinshasa, in the country's west, Lacroix said, "The loss of life and devastation would be very concerning."
He also expressed fear the current conflict could expand.
"We are concerned, not only as far as the eastern DRC is concerned, but this has, if you look at the past, this has the potential of triggering a wider regional conflict," he said. "And therefore, it is of the utmost importance that all diplomatic efforts should be geared toward avoiding this and bringing about the cessation of hostilities."
As for diplomatic efforts, the UN peacekeeping chief mentioned regional and African Union engagement, leadership of the UN mission, known as MONUSCO, and UN Security Council meetings but no cessation of hostilities.
However, he said a joint government-MONUSCO working group was established to coordinate on various issues such as security, human rights, humanitarian communication and the legal status of the territories that are under the control of the M23 rebels and the RDF.
Lacroix said the priority of UN peacekeepers is the protection of its personnel and assets, as well as the civilians sheltering within its premises, including civilian and disarmed combatants, by international humanitarian law. MONUSCO infrastructure is stretched, if not overwhelmed, with all those in the bases and under significant pressure to sustain people with water, rations and sanitation.
He also emphasised that UN premises must be respected.
"They are inviolable," Lacroix said. "We cannot stress this enough in the current circumstances where MONUSCO bases are under threat, but also in some cases, they have been under threat in terms of the presence of disarmed FARDC (Federal Armed DRC) soldiers."
Despite the challenge, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said relief workers are surveying the damage.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the government, local and international Red Cross organizations removed 700 dead bodies from Goma's streets between Sunday and Thursday, and that 2,800 people were treated for injuries.
Humanitarian partners report visiting sites for internally displaced people in the areas of Bulengo, Lushagala, on the outskirts of Goma. They found that water and healthcare services are still operational, but conditions remain dire. Cholera cases have been reported, and there are risks of a Mpox outbreak among displaced people.
OCHA said where access to safe drinking water in Goma remains cut off, forcing people to rely on untreated water from Lake Kivu, the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks will continue to increase.
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