The ongoing political instability and armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC) have devastated food production and distribution systems, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the non-governmental organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned today that extreme levels of violence, hunger, and displacement receive “scant funding, media apathy, and neglect”, as recent months have brought a dramatic deterioration in the situation in the eastern part of the country.
WFP said Tuesday large-scale displacement of people, destruction of infrastructure, and disruption of agricultural activities have led to widespread food shortages and increased vulnerability to hunger, with 1.5 million people in emergency levels of food insecurity.
More than 6.2 million people are internally displaced in the country. The majority of whom have fled their homes within the three eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The conflict in eastern DRC has caused an interlinked crisis, affecting food insecurity, malnutrition, health, education, as well as access to clean water and shelter.
While in the whole country some 26 million people are experiencing food insecurity, at least 6.7 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces. An estimated 2.8 million children in DR Congo are acutely malnourished.
“In my conversations with those displaced in Eastern DRC, I was struck by their strength in the face of adversity. Their challenges, such as the daily struggle to secure enough food and the additional dangers women face when seeking sustenance, are deeply concerning”, said Peter Musoko, WFP Country Director in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking from Kinshasa.
“It's evident that the assistance we provide, though impactful, must be reinforced to ensure their well-being.”
Malnutrition affects 4.4 million people, while lack of access to essential services has further compounded the protection of civilians and fueled gender-based violence. With each passing day, the situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to put the lives of women and children at risk.
WFP requires US$ 728 million for its response efforts in the eastern provinces of the country, but there is a staggering funding gap of USD 567 million, equivalent to 78 percent of the required funds for the next six months (until January 2024).
“The situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo demands our immediate attention. Lives are at stake, and the cost of inaction has untold consequences for the people”, Musoko stressed.
“The DRC needs our immediate attention and support to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. We ask governments, donors, and humanitarian partners to stand with us in this time of need.”
Responding to questions from journalists, the WFP Country Director explained that the presence of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in the eastern part of the country was very important. If the UN Mission were to leave, it was difficult to envision how the situation would evolve.
For several weeks now, the UN Mission and the Congolese armed forces have been carrying out a joint operation in Ituri and North Kivu, strengthening security arrangements and thwarting several attacks by armed groups.
MONUSCO, the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world, is due to withdraw from DR Congo by 2024.
The United Nations says that that armed group attacks in DRC have had an increasingly devastating impact on civilians, particularly in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Last week, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNJHRO) released a report on human rights violations and abuses during the first half of the year.
The report revealed that in the first six months of 2023, most civilians were killed in the eastern DRC, with armed groups accounting for the majority of documented fatalities. Eastern DRC is home to multiple armed groups, including the rebel Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) force, the CODECO (Coopérative pour le développement du Congo) armed group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, and Mai-Mai militants.
In a related development today, the European Union (EU) launched a new humanitarian air bridge operation for the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, transporting essential supplies to the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu. The supplies will be used to scale-up the humanitarian response in the eastern part of the country, where the already dire situation keeps deteriorating.
The EU said a total of eight flights are scheduled to take place until the end of August 2023. The new humanitarian air bridge operation follows a similar one between March and May 2023, which transported a total of 260 tons of supplies via seven flights.
Also today, the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council said the unprecedented crisis in the DR Congo “goes ignored”. According to NRC, the outside world is neglecting a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions in a region where humanitarian needs have been enormous for decades.
“The lack of attention to the unprecedented suffering in eastern Congo is unforgivable. It is the largest hunger crisis in the world. 25 million people are left largely on their own to face starvation, disease, and attacks,” said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland, after visiting Ituri Province this week.
“People I met with told me stories of human suffering at an extreme level: armed groups attacking defenseless families, women and girls subjected to sexual violence, children unable to go to school, rapidly depleted food supplies, and a lack of drinking water. I have rarely witnessed humanitarian needs at this scale,” he said.
Eight months into 2023, merely a third of required funding has been received for the humanitarian response that was planned in DR Congo. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo calls for $2.3 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people. As of August 23, the HRP is only 34 percent funded. The 2023 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) for the Democratic Republic of Congo requires $549 million. As of today, the RRP is only 11 percent covered by funding.
The Norwegian Refugee Council warned recent military campaigns and massacres have caused an acute emergency against a backdrop of decades of deep crisis and neglect.
“The international community must support a response that matches the gravity of the situation in Ituri Province and eastern DR Congo more widely”, said Egeland.
"It is not acceptable that aid agencies are forced to make impossible choices around who can and cannot be helped. And it is not acceptable that so many wealthy nations, corporations, and individuals refuse to make a fair contribution to the suffering millions.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, and the situation in the country is one of the most neglected displacement crises globally. For decades, the country has endured multiple, overlapping emergencies driven mainly by conflict and forced displacement. The UN estimates that 26.4 million require humanitarian assistance in the country this year.
The DRC already suffers the largest internal displacement crisis in Africa due to the ongoing violence. 7.5 million people in the country have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are 6.2 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.3 million refugees, that have sought safety in neighboring countries. In addition, DRC hosts some 500,000 refugees.
In 2023, the humanitarian situation in the eastern provinces of the DR Congo reached devastating levels, as cyclical violence perpetrated by armed groups and subsequent displacement continues to impact millions of vulnerable civilians.
The unrelenting cycle of violence has forced some 3.3 million people into displacement since March 2022, when clashes between armed groups – mainly rebels from the M23 - and government forces reignited. More than 1.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes in eastern DRC since January 2023.
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization. The UN agency, awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, is saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to support people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. WFP works in over 120 countries and territories. For millions of people worldwide, WFP assistance can make the difference between life and death.
The Norwegian Refugee Council is an independent humanitarian organization helping people forced to flee. Its headquarters are located in Oslo, Norway. The non-governmental organization protects displaced people and supports them. Founded in 1946, the Norwegian Refugee Council is currently one of the largest NGOs worldwide supporting refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The NRC's focus is the provision of urgent humanitarian aid during the emergency stage of a conflict or natural disaster. Today, the Norwegian Refugee Council works in new and protracted crises across 40 countries.
Further information
Full text: WFP Geneva Palais Briefing Note: Millions in the DRC risk going hungry as funding dries up, WFP press release, published August 22, 2023
https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-geneva-palais-briefing-note-millions-drc-risk-going-hungry-funding-dries
Full text: DR Congo: An unprecedented crisis goes ignored, NRC press release, published August 23, 2023
https://www.nrc.no/news/2023/august/drc-an-unprecedented-crisis-goes-ignored/
Full text: EU activates new Humanitarian Air Bridge to Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, European Commission press release, published August 23, 2023
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_4182