Minova – a commercial hub trapped in the fighting in eastern DRC

Minova, a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, tucked between the Lake Kivu and the mountains, has been a bustling commercial hub in eastern DRC. But, since the armed conflict flared up at the end of 2023, commercial activity has slowed dramatically.

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Minova, a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, tucked between the Lake Kivu and the mountains, has been a bustling commercial hub in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. But, since the armed conflict this part of the country has known for thirty years, flared up at the end of 2023, the commercial activity has slowed dramatically.

“Because of the war, we hardly get any income. Buying food is difficult. Prices have gone up. And so, we are wondering how do we survive? How do we live?” says Kasereka Kohonja, a barber, who works at the local market.

On Fridays, the market day, the town’s main street used to be filled with trucks that came from Bukavu, the capital of the South Kivu, or Goma in the neighboring North Kivu. The trucks brought household goods and in return, loaded them with locally produced fruit and vegetables to take away to markets of larger towns.

Now, the only road between Minova and Goma is cut off by the fighting between the government forces and M23 movement, and the road connecting Minova to Bukavu was made unusable by floods and landslides. Bringing goods into the town has become incredibly difficult, since the only way to access it is by the lake, which is also becoming more and more insecure for civilian boats due to the armed conflicts in the area.

The scarcity of the essential resources can be felt even more, since the town’s population exploded, after hundreds of thousands of people fled their villages in recent months and came here to seek refuge with not much more than the clothes they were wearing. “Life has defeated us,” says Beatrice Tunisifu, a young mother who has been displaced for about two months with her infant. “Because of hunger and disease.”

In the past weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) brought food and essential household items for 48,000 displaced people in Minova and surrounding areas, having first secured the guarantees of safe access from the parties engaged in the fighting. “When we bring medicine, food, or other essential items, we always start by notifying the parties to the conflict, so they can give us access,” says Claude Milongo, who oversees ICRC programs in Kalehe, Southern Kivu. “And we work with the national Red Cross society and local authorities, who also help us to deliver aid.”

For further information please contact:

Alyona Synenko, ICRC Nairobi, +254 716 897 265, asynenko@icrc.org

Eleonore Asomani, ICRC Dakar, +221781864687, easomani@icrc.org

Follow the ICRC on facebook.com/icrc and twitter.com/icrc

LOGLIST

Production Number
On-screen credit	ICRC
Shooting date	1-2.04.2024
Country/Location	DRC, Minova, South Kivu
Language	French, Swahili
Producer	Mark Kamau
Cameraperson	Alyona Synenko
Copyright / Details of restriction if applicable	ICRC
Comments / brief overview of content

TIME CODE	LOCATION / IMAGE / TIMECODED TRANSCRIPT OF SOUNDBITES

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:05:24	Lake Kivu, boat arriving to Minova
00:00:06:00 - 00:00:15:05	People displaced by the conflict in the recent months receive food in Minova
00:00:15:06 - 00:00:23:16	Beatrice, a displaced mother, receives food assistance from the Red Cross
00:00:23:17 - 00:00:47:14	Beatrice returns to the school where she has lived with her child for the past several months after they fled their home because of the fighting.
00:00:48:05 - 00:00:57:20	Soundbite : Beatrice Mitsa Tunisifu, displaced mother The suffering, the hunger… When the students come back to class, we must stay outside under the rain.
00:00:59:05 - 00:01:08:16	And to eat… It happens that I find something, and it happens that I have nothing at all. If I am lucky, I find enough food to make one meal a day.
00:01:08:19 - 00:01:14:20	And if not, then I spend the day and I go to sleep hungry, hoping there will be another chance to find some food.
00:01:15:06 - 00:01:19:22	Life has defeated us. Because of hunger and disease.
00:01:21:09 - 00:01:39:00	Soundbite : Kasereka Kohonja, a local barber Because of the war, we hardly get any income. Buying food is difficult. Prices have gone up. And so, we are wondering how do we survive? How do we live?
00:01:40:13 - 00:01:51:16	Displaced people outside the school
00:01:51:17 - 00:02:16:17	Beatrice bringing food she received from the Red Cross into the school
00:02:16:18 - 00:02:26:10	Red Cross volunteers unload the boat that delivered food.
00:02:26:11 - 00:03:22:17	Soundbite: Claude Milongo, responsible for the Kalehe Region for the ICRC The biggest difficulty in delivering assistance to the Minova area, where we are now is the problem of access. First, the road between Bukavu and Minova is cut off. And when we bring assistance by the lake, we must pass combat areas. Where one party shoots mortars and the other side responds, so this is the risk we take to bring aid by the lake to displaced people here in Minova. While we bring assistance there may be shooting by the parties to the conflict. When we bring medicine, food or other essential items. So, we always start by notifying the parties to the conflict, so they can give us access and we can bring all the assistance here to Minova. And we work with the national Red Cross society and local authorities. And this is how we manage to deliver aid.
00:03:22:18- 00:03:32:23	Red Cross volunteers unload food from the boat.
00:03:32:24 - 00:03:52:14	Displaced people queuing up to receive food.
00:03:52:15 - 00:04:06:16	Views of the port of Minova
END