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FACTS & FIGURES
Nearly 16 million people suffer severe food shortages
5 million internally displaced people
More than 910,000 refugees from the DRC in neighbouring countries
More than 3,460 reported cases in the 10th outbreak in eastern DRC
11th Ebola outbreak declared on 01 June 2020
Over 360,000 cases of measles 4.3 million children under 5 are malnourished (UNOCHA, UNHCR, and UNICEF)
EU humanitarian funding: More than €40 million in 2020
Introduction
Between conflict, poverty, malnutrition and frequent disease outbreaks, humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are among the highest in the world. Such is their scale that the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for the DRC is the second largest appeal worldwide. While the DRC is still battling Ebola, the coronavirus pandemic reached the country in March 2020. It threatens an already weak health system that is battling the largest measles outbreak ever recorded, in addition to cholera and malaria.
What are the needs?
For decades, people in the DRC have had to escape violence. Leaving behind their home, vulnerable people are forced to look for safety in overcrowded family homes, makeshift camps, schools or churches, and to restart their lives repeatedly. There are currently around 5 million displaced people within the DRC and more than 910,000 Congolese refugees in neighbouring countries. Given the instability in the region, the DRC itself hosts more than 526,000 refugees mainly from Rwanda, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Burundi.
Ongoing violence and conflict also prevent people from accessing their fields and markets, generating even more poverty. An estimated 15.8 million people face severe food shortages and 4.3 million children under 5 years of age are malnourished, out of whom 1.3 million suffer from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition.
The DRC currently faces several epidemics. Its weak health system and lack of basic infrastructure and social services, including in the health care sector, are a challenge to any response. The coronavirus pandemic has reached the DRC in March 2020. At the same time, just as the 10th Ebola outbreak was about to be declared over, a few new cases have been reported since 10 April 2020. On 01 June 2020, a new Ebola outbreak was found in the northwestern Équateur Province. Since 2018, the DRC has been grappling with a serious measles outbreak that has so far resulted in more than 360,000 cases and 6,600 deaths – the majority among children.