The Need In autumn 2008, the LRA began launching a series of raids on villages and towns in and around the territories of Dungu and Doruma in northeastern DRC. The attacks terrorised people through abductions of children, sexual violence, and the killing of chiefs, and caused a massive population displacement as people fled from the fighting. Tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes on foot with only the belongings they could carry with them. From Dungu and Doruma North region over 40,000 people arrived: lacking possessions, emotionally traumatised, and physically exhausted by the journey. A large group were taken up by guest families who themselves have very scarce resources. While FARDC (Congolese army) and MONUC (UN troops) are present in the region, the situation remains unstable. On 1 November 2008, Dungu town was itself the target of an LRA raid, forcing residents and the previously displaced to flee into the forest and surrounding villages. The health status of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially women and children under the age of five, is at terrible risk because of the current lack of primary health care. Disease is likely to spread as a result of the desperate living conditions. Health clinics in the conflict-affected areas have been raided and looted. Without emergency health care, medicine, and medical supplies, the IDPs are vulnerable to high levels of illness and mortality, posing a risk to public health in the territories. Our Response Having been active in this area for over ten years, Medair is uniquely suited to provide the kind of swift emergency assistance that is needed to save lives. We will improve access to primary health care for the most vulnerable: the displaced and recently returned populations. With this response, Medair will provide free medical care for displaced persons. Where security permits, our staff will monitor the use of medicine and the efficiency of medical staff, providing supervision and training as needed. Our second priority will be to re-equip the health system in the areas affected by looting. Medair will transport and distribute medicines and medical instruments to looted health clinics in the areas destabilised by the crisis: the health zones of Doruma, and Dungu. We will also transport and distribute medicine to support victims of sexual violence in the General Hospital of Dungu. With Your Support We will provide life-saving aid to desperate and vulnerable residents of northeastern DRC, families torn from their homes to seek shelter wherever they can find it. By end of December 2009 we expect to have provided free preventative and curative health care to 24,000 displaced or recently returned people in the emergency area and 65,000 indigenous population. Approximately 10,000 children, who otherwise would have had little or no access to medical attention, will have seen a health care provider. Our intervention will ensure that up to 100 people suffering from the effects of sexual abuse will receive compassionate care and free treatment. We will make a major difference in restoring and strengthening the local health system by working in partnership with the local health clinics. Twenty health clinics in the region that have been looted will be re-equipped with medicines and equipment, and supported through Medair’s training and supervisory expertise. This intervention will strengthen their capacity and improve the quality of health care in the area, providing an extended benefit for public health. Your support will be put to immediate use in this urgent emergency relief mission in DRC. The total budget for this project is US$ 1,162,439. Most of this amount has already been granted by governmental humanitarian aid organisations, but we are still seeking private support in the amount of US$ 170,400. This level of private support will enable us to meet our total budget target and carry out this life-saving emergency response in D.R. Congo.