After years as one of the world's most under-reported crises, it looks as though the conflict in eastern Congo is finally attracting the attention it deserves, with the past week's fighting regularly getting top billing in the media.

With at least 200,000 refugees from the violence crammed in camps around Goma, the scenes that have unfurled on our TV screens night after night have been heartbreaking. Hundreds of hungry civilians wait in vain for aid, telling reporters they haven't eaten for days. Some of the displaced are going home to the heart of the fighting rather than risk starvation in a safe place.

Inevitably, the images raise a question in the mind of the ordinary viewer: Why is the aid taking so long?

Worse still, some of the coverage seems to suggest that the few aid operations that have been running have got it badly wrong. One report showed a crowd bitterly disappointed by the distribution of high-energy biscuits instead of the more satisfying food they were expecting.

Another widely reported story recounts how the joy of Kibati camp refugees at the first humanitarian convoy in a week turned to anger on being given bars of soap. "Are we supposed to eat this?" asked one elderly beneficiary who said he not eaten for five days.

The incident prompted Onesphore Sematumba, from local think-tank the Pole Institute, to echo the mantra that has inspired countless tomes about the failures of international aid. "We really need to rethink humanitarian aid," he said. "If you can't help people, don't create false hopes."

But talk to aid workers about why the humanitarian operation is taking so long, and a much more complex picture emerges. According to the U.N.'s World Food Programme - the agency behind the notorious soap delivery - the mission was never intended to distribute food, as it was an assessment mission carrying only a small amount of medical supplies.

And assessments, aid workers say, are an indispensable part of the process of getting aid to the right people.

"If we just turn up and dump food there will be a total free-for-all where there's a real risk of people getting injured or even killed, and the food would not go to the people who need it most," said Marcus Prior, WFP's spokesman in East Africa. "In any situation such as this, it is the weakest and most vulnerable who will be the last to get their hands on the food."

But the biggest reason for eastern Congo's aid delays is the violence that has engulfed the region. There are tales of aid workers unable to go out for fear of attack, and having their cars and bikes stolen.

"It's been very much to do with the security situation," said ActionAid spokeswoman Anjali Kwatra, explaining why the agency, which has been working in Congo since 1996, had to suspend its operation during the worst violence. "They're not sitting around in their houses. They've been doing as much as they can do in a security situation which is very fluid."

In the past 24 hours the agency has re-started its relief effort, and is distributing aid to around 10,000 people in Mugunga camp and in Goma. But, with fresh fighting breaking out again, it's a stop-start operation.

WFP, which is working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, began distributing food aid to 135,000 displaced people in camps around Goma when the fighting abated earlier this week.

It says its local partners have been affected in the same way as international agencies, creating another facet of the security situation that has stymied the aid effort.

"Even when the situation did improve, we found ourselves short of partners and working in a situation where we almost had to start again," said Prior.

According to Medecins Sans Frontiers, which has managed to keep its operation going throughout the upsurge in violence, aid workers have been thin on the ground, particularly in Rutshuru, the region worst affected by last week's fighting.

"There have been other NGOs supplying a few items, but they are very reluctant, and probably for good reasons," said Katrine Coppens, MSF Holland's operations manager in Congo.

She estimates that MSF is reaching about 300,000-400,000 people with medical aid - impressive numbers compared to the size of most aid operations in the area. But she acknowledges that, with at least a million people displaced, more help is needed, especially in the form of food and shelter.

Civilians' reactions to the violence also play into the security situation that the agency has to negotiate, she said.

"One of difficulties of bringing aid is that people prefer to stay close to their homes and fields, or flee ahead of the fighting. That's a very good coping mechanism, but staying close to the fighting makes it difficult to reach them."

A shortage of food supplies in Goma is also creating problems, according to WFP. The agency has been drawing on a 1,000-tonne contingency stock, borrowing food from neighbouring operations such as WFP Rwanda and using internal funding mechanisms to buy new supplies.

"We have enough food in Goma for our initial response to the current crisis," said Prior. "However the medium term is a matter of concern for us. We need probably 10,000 tonnes a month into North and South Kivu which is an enormous amount. We're going to need the support of the international community to buy more food in the months ahead."

All of which raises another difficulty that humanitarians will face if they launch appeals for Congo. With images of the hungry waiting for aid still fresh in their minds, will the public see aid agencies as an efficient vehicle for their credit crunch compromised cash?

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