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Thierry Goffeau: It was unstable. The first M23 offensive in July 2012 got a lot of people moving and many have settled down in the outskirts of Goma – around 70,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Mugunga camps west of Goma, and 55,000 in the Kanyarucinia camp north of Goma. Some areas in those camps weren't properly taken care of by the local authorities or the international community and there's poor food distribution, insufficient access to water, bad sanitation, poor access to healthcare, etc.Why do MSF have a presence in eastern DRC?
The health system doesn't have the capacity to provide free of charge, quality healthcare to the population, who are recurrent victims of conflict and malnutrition. The region has been unstable for more than 15 years, deeply damaging the health services, public health and infrastructure, and the constant displacement of the population has exposed them to all kinds of epidemics, sexual violence and lootings. We're in a constant emergency in North Kivu.
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MSF works in all the key places in North Kivu: Walikale, Masisi, Goma, Rutshuru, but also Ituri and South Kivu. All our projects are staffed with around 70 skilled expatriates and hundreds of local national staff. We support four hospitals, 12 health centres, four health posts, provide mobile clinics, repond to epidemics and provide health care and nutrition in IDP camps in all those areas. And all of it is free of charge.
We set up mobile clinics and health posts in camps, and we collect the wounded on the frontline and transfer them into hospitals where we provide surgery. Our mobile clinics allow us to follow the movements. On Thursday 22nd, around 100 wounded civilians were counted in Goma's hospitals; MSF is now taking care of 54 of them.How was M23 able to take Goma with such little resistance from government and UN forces?
M23 are mobile, well equipped and motivated. It's never easy to secure a city like Goma. The Monusco mandate is restricted to the protection of civilians. The population was shocked to see how fast the invasion occured.What have the UN been doing? Are they doing enough?
On the humanitarian front, they do what they can, but they're suffering shortage of supplies and funding.
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It's unlikely. That would mean we'd shift to a regional war. Let's see what happens with the ongoing negotiations in Kampala.
Definitely. This conflict is far from over, unless an agreement is reached between M23 and President Kabila in Kampala. Therefore, we're prepared to stay on the frontlines and continue our job.Have MSF facilities and staff been threatened or attacked by the rebels?
We've managed to negotiate our humanitarian space. However, one of our trucks got looted on the road to Rutshuru a week ago. No one got harmed too much, fortunately.Have you seen anything to suggest that M23 are using child soldiers?
Honestly, in Rutshuru and Goma, no. But an individual is considered a child up to his 15th brthday, and many look older than that physically, so it's hard to tell.
In our Rutshuru hopsital, the number of rapes are the same as this time last year. But the number was already very high before, so I'd say the horror remains at exactly the same level. Raping is a major issue in this part of DRC. I'd never seen such high numbers or heard such terrible testimonies before I came here.What's the situation like in Goma now that it's in the hands of M23?
People remain fearful and traumatised, but life goes on and many shops are open. There's no electricity or running water yet, and that could cause some major health issues if it continues. Cholera is endemic here and we have sick patients in the camps – a threat that needs to be followed up closely.
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