France announces reopening of DRC's Goma airport for aid flights
Over $1.7 billion is pledged in international aid for Africa's Great Lakes region, which is plagued by a humanitarian crisis, at a conference in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the airport in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will reopen to humanitarian flights months after it was closed when the city was seized by the M23 rebel group.
The airport would open "in the coming weeks" along with secure corridors for aid delivery, Macron said at a conference in Paris on Thursday, where he also announced a more than $1.7 billion pledge in international aid for Africa's Great Lakes region, plagued by a humanitarian crisis.
"I am proud to announce that you have collectively mobilised over 1.5 billion euros in assistance for the most vulnerable populations," he said at the closing of the international conference, adding that the aid includes medicines and food.
Millions of people are facing hunger in the DRC which has been being hit hard by a sharp drop in foreign aid, the United Nations warned on Thursday.
"We cannot remain silent spectators of the tragedy unfolding in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Macron said.
The DRC is rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, and three decades of conflict in the country's north-east as different factions fight over the resources have claimed millions of lives and left the region ravaged.