UK aid: Helping families who've fled violence in DRC

As armed groups continue to attack vulnerable communities in the east of the DRC, the number of people displaced by the violence is rapidly increasing. They desperately need support with basic necessities.

“The situation in the east of the country is escalating with settlements for internally displaced people growing by the day as separate conflicts continue involving armed groups,” said Concern’s DRC Country Director, Antoine Sagot-Priez.

“The people we provide humanitarian assistance to in Oicha have been affected by the conflict generated by the presence of an extremely violent armed group.

“One mother we are supporting said her husband and two of their eight children were killed during an attack at their village in North Kivu. That woman said their house was set on fire. They fled to Oicha city where they now struggle to afford rent and living costs," he said.

The DRC already has Africa’s largest displaced population with 5.6 million people made homeless because of conflict inside its borders. In addition to that, it hosts half a million refugees from neighbouring countries.

The country is also facing a major food crisis affecting over 27 million people. An estimated 4.2 million people are acutely malnourished - more than half of whom are children under five years old.

Concern is providing clean water points, food and cash assistance for essential supplies to tens of thousands of people - both displaced and host communities. We are also working to help improve water and hygiene systems, income generation and gender equality.

Our emergency response is partly funded by the FCDO’s multi-million pound Strategic Assistance for Emergency Response (SAFER) in DRC programme, in partnership with Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council and ACTED.

“The ongoing security crisis has also created conditions for other armed groups to be more proactive and therefore generate more violence in other territories, and it is important to keep humanitarian response capacities in those areas,” said Antoine Sagot-Priez.

“The needs are still vast and right now we are implementing a rapid-response emergency programme in North Kivu as we continue to respond to the needs and reduce the vulnerability of households affected by conflict and shocks in DRC.”

The DRC, which has a population of over 108 million people, is one of the poorest countries in the world despite being rich in natural resources.