Attachments
I. Methodology Data collection
Researchers and analysts from the Crisis Analysis Team in the Democratic Republic of Congo (CAT-DRC) collect, triangulate and analyze information gathered from primary and secondary sources. Each week, researchers conduct interviews with key informants to better understand the events contributing to the humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC (violent incidents, epidemics, natural disasters, etc.). They analyze their potential impact on humanitarian operations. These interviews take place with local administrative officials, customary representatives, health personnel, representatives of the army and armed groups, as well as humanitarian organizations active in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Maniema.
CAT-DRC also uses a number of secondary sources made available by humanitarian partners (e.g. OCHA, INSO) and the community. All information undergoes a triangulation process before analysis and dissemination. However, the information presented in this report is subject to change at the time of publication due to rapidly evolving situations in the region.
Data analysis and report structure
The analyses presented focus on two main aspects: (i) Populations displacements and the response status of humanitarian needs; and (ii) humanitarian access in the areas hosting the most displaced people in eastern DRC.
Population displacement and humanitarian need
Analysis of displacement is the first section of this report. This section aims to (i) document and understand new population movements which occurred during the month covered by this report, and (ii) assess and map humanitarian needs from unassisted displacement that took place in the past four months, including the month under review. Areas with high unassisted displacement are referred to as ‘displacement hotspots’.
Both displacement hotspots and new displacements are analyzed at the territory level in the five provinces studied in eastern DRC, and are presented on Map 1. On this map, territories are categorized into class intervals (shown by a graduated colored background) that correspond to the number of households hosted in the territory which have not yet received humanitarian assistance. The number of households used to categorize territories corresponds to the sum of all major displacements, i.e. over 300 households, reported in each territory March and June 2024.
Displacements of over 300 households in June 2024 are also illustrated on Map 1, with markers showing the position of the localities now hosting the displaced individuals. These new displacements are then described in more detail, on a case-by-case basis, with maps showing population movement between points of departure and reception in each of the territories concerned.
Humanitarian access
Analysis of humanitarian access is the second section of this report. To do this, CAT-DRC categorizes incidents by a humanitarian access score. This score has six levels, from 1 to 6, which describe the severity of security incidents and their impact on humanitarian access. Level 1 corresponds to a situation where the incident does not result in access restrictions. Level 6, the highest level, corresponds to a situation where the incident causes extreme access restrictions.
Incidents at levels 4 to 6 are those that severely impact humanitarian access and generally involve ambushes, clashes between armed actors, attacks and looting of villages, and natural disasters. The humanitarian access score allows the CAT-DRC to identify the main hotspots in eastern DRC. For a given month, analysis of the access scores makes it possible to identify actors who have caused significantly restricted humanitarian access. From one month to the next, this score also allows us to understand the evolution of humanitarian access restrictions in the territories studied.
Given the large number of territories studied in eastern DRC, CAT-DRC has focused its analysis on only those territories with a high concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Priority is given to those areas that have recorded the largest number of IDPs over the last four months (including the month covered by this report) and whose humanitarian needs have not yet been met. These displacement hotspots are typically the ones that should be targeted for humanitarian intervention in the short term. As such, documenting access restrictions to these areas is relevant. Specifically, in this report, the territories included in the humanitarian access analysis are those where the number of displaced/returned persons is greater than the median value (4,619 households) of displacements recorded in all territories over the past four months (see Annex 1).