The United Nations is to send a convoy of food and medical supplies to help the 250,000 people displaced by fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, between government and rebel troops.
The convoy is to leave the city of Goma and move into territory controlled by renegade General Laurent Nkunda's forces.
Britain has warned of an urgent need to deliver aid to refugees, especially around the eastern city of Goma, where a fragile truce is holding, but people are living in desperate conditions.
Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, are trying to find an end to the crisis, with Congo accusing Rwanda of backing the rebels.
Mr Miliband said establishing an aid corridor to the city of Goma was a top priority, after visiting with his French counterpart.
The ministers have held talks with the Congolese President, and will shortly meet Rwanda's President Paul Kagame.
Mr Miliband said the 850 UN soldiers in Goma needed to be reinforced with those deployed in other parts of the country.
"Humanitarian aid needs security and that is the absolute priority for these people (aid workers) who need safe and secure routes for the humanitarian aid that has been promised" he said.
The two ministers earlier met with Congo President Joseph Kabila for 90 minutes on Sunday in a diplomatic push to halt a looming humanitarian disaster.
After holding talks with the Congolese government, the British and French foreign ministers flew together to Goma, the provincial capital of the volatile east, to see for themselves the scale of the humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking during a trip to the Gulf, told reporters the international community must "not allow Congo to become another Rwanda," where 800,000 people died in the 1994 genocide.
United Nations
United Nations and aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in the country.
The UN says it has credible reports that camps sheltering 50,000 displaced people in the east of the country have been destroyed.
Reports suggest the camps were forcibly emptied and looted before being burned, the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said.
Australia has pledged $1 million in humanitarian aid to the Congo.
Australia's foreign minister Stephen Smith says the humanitarian situation in the country is terrible and the one million dollars is an initial contribution.
A New Zealand-based lecturer who's studied the Democratic Republic of Congo says the fighting between government and rebel forces is likely to be prolonged.
The University of Canterbury's Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, Dr Richard Vokes, believes the leader of the rebels, Laurent Nkunda is determined to take over the country.
Dr Vokes says it's unlikely Mr Nkunda has the resources to fulfil his threat, unless nearby Rwanda provides military support.
Aid groups fight to reach refugees
Aid groups say they are struggling to reach an estimated 250,000 people in the region fleeing fierce fighting between government and rebel forces.
Tutsi forces led by Laurent Nkunda have captured several key towns from government forces in the east, sparking a mass exodus from the countryside.
Earlier, the rebel leader had warned UN forces protecting Goma that his forces would open fire if the UN tried to halt their advance.
The UN Security Council has condemned fighting by the rebels, calling on the governments of DR Congo and Rwanda to work to defuse tensions.
An emergency session of the council expressed concern over the humanitarian consequences of the fighting.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to the fighting, which he said was creating a "humanitarian catastrophe".
The UN children's agency Unicef said the latest bout of fighting had resulted in a "very bad" humanitarian situation.
"We're talking tens of thousands of people who have fled towards Goma and thousands more who are fleeing north to a town called Kane Byunga," Unicef's Jaya Murthy said.
"Many of the population that have fled are staying in vacant schools, in churches and outside."
