February 2020 – The crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is characterized by inter-ethnic conflict and widespread human rights abuses, including sexual violence. In 2020, 15.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the DRC, a 22% increase from 2019, and 2020 expects additional population movement, creating significant needs in protection, livelihoods, and food security. Currently, the DRC is home to the second largest food crisis, with almost 16 million people severely food insecure. In addition, it is home to the largest internally-displaced persons (IDPs) population in Africa with 5.01 million displaced people. These needs are exacerbated by the ongoing Ebola outbreak, increased violence, and the forced return of hundreds of thousands Congolese refugees. With GAC’s support, Action Against Hunger (ACF) is providing assistance to address the urgent needs of up to 68,337 conflict-affected people in the Mweso Health Zone in the DRC. This project focuses on improving water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, preventing and treating malnutrition, and providing access to basic health and sexual and reproductive health and rights services to conflict-affected people. Project activities include: (1) rehabilitating 65 water points; (2) constructing 500 latrines; (3) providing training to up to 18,870 people in acute and several malnutrition prevention; and (4) providing training to up to 50 community health workers.
The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to sexual health and reproductive services for the most vulnerable; (2) increased access to primary health care services for children under 5; (3) increased capacity to detect and prevent acute and severe malnutrition; and (4) increased access to water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. The expected ultimate outcome is reduce suffering, increase and maintain human dignity and lives saved in communities affected by the armed conflict in the province of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
