MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2018) Humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) anticipates an upsurge of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to the upcoming election in the country and will take preventive action, stocking up on medical supplies and limiting the MSF staff's in-country travel, MSF Senior Humanitarian Specialist Michiel Hofman told Sputnik on Friday.
"The only thing we know is that there is likely to be more violence around the election period. We have no reason to think that this time will be different. In that sense we are reasonably well prepared to deal with that. That means we usually reduce the number of movements inside the country because that's when you're most exposed to violence and necessarily we would make sure that we have prepositioned medical supplies," Hofman said.
Hofman added that despite the fact that the MSF, being a humanitarian organization, was not involved in the political process in the country, it welcomed the DRC election as a possible peaceful solution to the situation in the country.
He added, however, that the MSF prioritized addressing the humanitarian situation in DRC.
"Elections or not, we would always encourage international donors, whether it is the United Nations or European countries, or Russia. We know [we need] to make sure that nobody forgets the humanitarian needs," Hofman summarized.
The DRC presidential election is currently scheduled for December 23. The country has been led by President Joseph Kabila since 2001. The president's second term expired in 2016, however, the authorities had been putting off the presidential election since then, which prompted protests against Kabila in the country. The rallies have been suppressed by the government with the use of force.
