Brussels, 10/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - An international Ministerial conference on the Democratic Republic of Congo, organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the EU to raise funds for the DRC, will take place on 13 February. This conference coincides with the launch of the 2006 humanitarian action plan for the DRC, a country where more than 1,200 people die every day from the effects of the civil war (malnutrition, illness, population displacement). Jan Egeland, the United Nation's Chief Coordinator for Emergency Relief, and Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, will jointly chair this meeting, which will bring together all the players who could make a financial contribution towards improving the lives of millions of Congolese by covering their basic humanitarian needs. Karel De Gucht, the Belgian Foreign Minister, and Armand De Decker, his Development counterpart, will open proceedings.