Ireland is to send two senior aid officials and a quantity of aid to assist in recovery efforts in the earthquake-hit regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, the Government has announced.
The region was hit by an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude and subsequent aftershocks earlier this month, leaving at least 45 people dead and 876 injured. An estimated 1,200 homes have been destroyed in Rwanda and 1,127 families have been registered for assistance in DRC.
An aid consignment of 150 tents will be despatched from stockpiles of humanitarian supplies in the southern Italian port of Brindisi, to assist the victims.
Brindisi is the base for the UN's rapid response unit, which can scramble emergency aid to disaster regions within 48 hours.
The shipment will be co-ordinated by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and will be carried out by the UN World Food Programme. Minister for Overseas Development, Michael Kitt announced the deployment today under the Rapid Response Initiative. It is the first time that Irish officials will be deployed in the field under the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) programme.
Commandant Damien McEvoy of the Defence Forces Engineering Corps and Dr Harriet Sexton Morel from Irish Aid's Emergency and Recovery Section based in Limerick are currently travelling to Bukavu as part of a two-week mission.
A volunteer member of Ireland's Rapid Response Corps will travel to the DRC later this week to work as a logistician with the UN World Food Programme (WFP).