Since 2003, the UK has made a bilateral contribution of £24.3 million to security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo, comprising interventions by the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Defence. These reforms include support for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes, police reform and support to the Justice sector.
Police reform is DFID's priority, having provided technical assistance for early strategy development and we are currently supporting the national police reform committee's work to develop what we consider will be an effective police reform plan.
While the police reform process is at an early stage, progress has been made to improve police capacity in service delivery and to strengthen accountability and oversight mechanisms.
The Department for International Development (DFID) is at the forefront of the humanitarian effort in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and has provided £42 million in 2008 for humanitarian needs, much of which was used to meet the needs of displaced people. This includes £5 million allocated after the latest crisis in North Kivu in October for food, health care, shelter and water and sanitation support for displaced people through UNICEF, the World Food Programme, Oxfam and the International Rescue Committee.
The DFID humanitarian team continue to work closely with the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations (NGO) partners on the ground to determine needs. We are keeping the need for further funds under review. DFID will aim to make funds available for the 2009 Humanitarian Action Plan in January and we expect to commit at least £35 million for humanitarian needs in 2009.