Attachments
This is the final Democratic Republic of the Congo fact sheet for FY 2012.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
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Humanitarian conditions in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have worsened considerably since April 2012 due to increased armed group activity. As of June 30, conflict had displaced approximately 2.2 million people in the DRC, a nearly 25 percent increase from the estimated 1.8 million people displaced at the beginning of 2012, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Ongoing insecurity is displacing large numbers of people within North Kivu, Orientale, and South Kivu provinces, as well as externally to neighboring countries, resulting in increased numbers of spontaneous internally displaced person (IDP) sites, which are stressing the capacity of existing humanitarian infrastructure and complicating relief efforts.
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The International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) convened in Kampala, Uganda, on September 7 and 8 to develop a regional strategy to address conflict in eastern DRC. ICGLR participants included heads of state from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, the DRC, Kenya, Sudan, Republic of South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as a senior official representing Rwanda. ICGLR participants pledged to continue ongoing diplomatic efforts, establish a humanitarian trust fund, enhance regional information sharing, and form a neutral military force. The U.N. hosted a summit in New York City on September 27 to discuss support for the ICGLR, which is scheduled to reconvene on October 8 in Kampala.
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In FY 2012, the U.S. Government (USG) provided more than $113 million in humanitarian assistance to the DRC. USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) committed nearly $35 million to support agriculture and food security, economic recovery and market systems (ERMS), health, nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions; the provision of relief supplies; and humanitarian coordination and information management. In addition, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided approximately $35 million to address emergency food needs among vulnerable populations in the DRC, including IDPs and refugees, while the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM) provided nearly $44 million for protection, refugee return and reintegration, and IDP and refugee support activities.