Telecoms Charity Offer Aid in Congo

At the request of UNICEF, the telecoms charity, Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) says that it has installed a telecoms center by satellite in Mitwaba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three months previously the region was beset with rioting rebels who contested the government then in power, the population who fled is now slowly returning. Humanitarian operations were previously impossible in the region, but now access had been given to humanitarian organizations and the displaced population is also able to return their homes.

To respond to the urgent needs faced by the massive influx of the returning displaced population Unicef has deployed to the town of Mitwaba.

An internet connection was immediately installed in this remote region offering access to the outside and facilitating the co-ordination of humanitarian action. The mission for TSF is estimated to last until the middle of September.

The mission of Telecoms Sans Fontieres in RDC has been made possible through the partnership with OCHA (The United nations desk charged with the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and UNICEF and are financed by the Vodafone Group Foundation, the United Nations Foundation and TSF's other partners.

The TSF website is at: www.tsfi.org"

Posted to the site on 11th September 2006