Concern Worldwide is warning that the Democratic Republic of Congo is in the midst of perhaps the most urgent humanitarian crises anywhere in the world this year. The aid agency says conditions in the DRC continue to worsen with 13 million people in need of assistance, 4.3 million people losing their homes as a result of civil war and 7.7 million people starving. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), a shocking two million children in the country are at risk of severe acute malnutrition which if left untreated could result in death.
Suffering on a massive scale
Reka Sztopa the aid agency’s Regional Director for Central Africa says that suffering is taking place on a massive scale and continues to get worse with each passing day. Concern is urging that it be given unrestricted access in order to deliver lifesaving assistance and is appealing for funding to support its efforts. The aid agency has had a presence in the DRC for more than two decades and says that aid has not arrived nearly fast enough. This despite the fact that 13 million people require assistance and a decision by the United Nations to upgrade the DRC’s status to a Level 3 Emergency.
Funding requirements not being met
What that means is the DRC joins Syria and Yemen as being the worst-of the-worst humanitarian crises. If there is no immediate intervention, hundreds of thousands of people will end up starving. The UN has requested $1.68 billion in humanitarian funding, but so far only 2 per cent or $36.8 million of the requested amount has been received this year. Last year only 57 per cent of the DRC’s funding requirements was met.
Conflict is a persistent threat
The displacement in the country is the result of a conflict between various armed militia which are seeking control of land and resources. Last year it was estimated that in the DRC, 5,500 people fled there homes every day as a result of the fighting. Mark Johnson Concern’s man on the ground in the DRC says that conflict is a persistent threat to local communities and its impact is very real and clear to see. He adds that recently the agency was distributing aid when fighting broke out in a town that was located quite close by. The fighting forced Concern to postpone what it was doing so that it could make sure that the communities that were affected and its staff members supporting them were safe.
Cholera outbreak
To make matters worse, there is lack of access to clean water and sanitation which has resulted in an outbreak of cholera. So far more than 1,200 people have died as a result of the disease which is being described as the worst outbreak in over two decades. Concern is doing its best to fight the disease and prevent it from spreading across provinces in the South-East of the country. The agency is providing support and access to clean water and sanitation to more than 61,000 people.
