UN slashes aid goals in DR Congo due to money woes

_________________

The United Nations said Thursday it has slashed its humanitarian aid goals in the Democratic Republic of Congo by nearly one half, as funding woes force it to focus on only the neediest.

In February, the United Nations issued an appeal for around $2.5 billion to help 11 million people in the vast, troubled country this year, rather than 21 million the UN deems as being in need of assistance.

But because of financing problems as countries cut overseas aid, humanitarian aid officials in the former Zaire have set new priorities, the UN´s humanitarian affairs office announced Thursday.

As only $245 million in aid has been received in response to the appeal so far, the new plan has identified "life-saving interventions to help 6.8 million of the most vulnerable people at a cost of $1.25 billion -– approximately half of the full plan’s requirements."

"Aid is decreasing, but needs are not," the office known as OCHA said.

The aid cut comes as many UN agencies scale down operations and staffing levels around the world as donors give less, in particular the United States under President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration has gutted the main American overseas aid agency, USAID, eliminating 83 percent of its aid programs, which provided billions in assistance to poor people around the world.

The mineral-rich DR Congo has endured war off and on for decades and things got worse in recent months as the M-23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, seized the eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu, worsening a humanitarian crisis. The fighting has left thousands of people dead.