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DR Congo + 3 more

Democratic Republic of the Congo UNHCR Operational Update, August 2020

Attachments

Refugees

PROTECTION

  • Although refugees receive assistance in camps, they remain often food insecure. Especially refugees from Burundi and South Sudan have a poor food security status and data shows that some 40 per cent of the Burundian and 80 per cent of the South Sudanese refugees were still food insecure despite the assistance they received. This may be worsened by the ration cuts, in addition to the fact that some refugees also spend their assistance on other essentials such as medical care.

  • The lack of formal documentation can pose significant problems, hindering a child’s chances of enrolling in school, accessing immunizations and other forms of healthcare, and even preventing them from travelling. At Meri site, Haut-Uele Province, 59 new births of South Sudanese refugees were registered at the civil status offices.

  • With the support of the Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés (CNR) and partners, six Burundian refugee children who have been separated from their families were transported from Lubumbashi, Haut Katanga Province to Lusenda refugee camp in South Kivu Province to be reunited with their families.

  • During the reporting period, seven cases of sexual and gender-based violence were recorded in Haut-Uele Province by UNHCR’s protection monitoring partner ADSSE. Five of the victims were children. All survivors were referred to appropriate service providers.

SHELTER AND CORE RELIEF ITEMS (CRIs)

  • UNHCR and partners distributed clothes donated by UNIQLO to 1,583 refugees and 257 host community members with specific needs at Meri and Bele South Sudanese refugee sites.

  • In Nord Ubangi Province, UNHCR partner AIRD supported refugees from CAR through Cash Based Interventions, in building transitional shelters to improve living conditions in Bili refugee camp. 80 transitional shelters were finalized in Bili, to improve shelter conditions for the most vulnerable CAR refugee households.

CASH-BASED INTERVENTIONS (CBI)

  • In Haut Uele and Ituri Provinces, UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP) and partner ADSSE assisted over 23,500 South Sudanese refugees with cash for food assistance for August and September. The activities were implemented in strict respect of physical distancing, temperature measurement and compulsory hand washing.

  • In Nord Ubangi Province, over 18,000 refugees from the Central African Republic received cash for food with the support of WFP and partners.

LIVELIHOODS AND FOOD SECURITY

  • In Bas Uele Provinces, 47 refugee youth from the Central African Republic and host community members are benefiting from three months sewing vocational training programme with the support of Partner Terre Sans Frontières (TSF). All graduated will receive start-up kits, allowing them to generate income, become self-reliant and improve their standard of living.