January 2018

A difficult year for the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The DRC has had a difficult year and that has affected Butoke’s ability to help those who rely upon it. The national political situation is difficult. The BBC News website has interesting coverage of recent events.

Secondly, and of more immediate significance to Butoke, a huge humanitarian crisis has developed in the Kasai province, which is where Butoke operates. Again, the BBC News website is covering the crisis, which has grown out of clashes between a local militia and the security services. The UN food agency says that more than three million people are now at risk of starvation. At least 1.5 million people have fled their homes and an unknown number have already been killed or died.

Butoke has tried to help people who have been emerging from the forests where they had been hiding from militias for months at a time. The new arrivals often have literally nothing, not even clothes, when they arrive malnourished at Butoke’s door. Butoke has been trying to provide clothes, some food, medical treatment and blankets, but the
situation remains desperate.