DR Congo

In DR Congo, we work with communities and local partners to alleviate malnutrition. We improve access to basic needs, drinking water, hygiene and quality healthcare in regions affected by conflict. We also focus on climate resilience activities, agriculture, cash and food security.

Our team works in remote areas of the country, particularly in South Kivu, in the east of DR Congo, where there are often no usable roads, and access is possible only on foot or via humanitarian flights. Furthermore, access is complicated by the presence of several armed groups.

To improve malnutrition rates among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women, we focus on prevention and subsequent treatment in health facilities. Prevention is based on the training of community health workers, raising awareness, and sharing knowledge about nutritious diets. We organise cookery courses using locally available resources. We also train the medical staff in the treatment of malnutrition and provide therapeutic food or milk to the health centres.

We build and repair drinking water sources and improve hygiene conditions in the centres which we support. We also often complement these activities with the provision of food and cash support. We also partner with organisations providing healthcare to ensure holistic support for the affected populations. Beyond ensuring access to drinking water, we also build water points, latrines, showers, and waste disposal for health facilities.

In South Kivu, we have launched climate resilience activities. We support the production of charcoal from bamboo that is planted along roads to strengthen them, and we are testing if charcoal bamboo is an acceptable alternative to replace charcoal produced by cutting down forest trees. Furthermore, we focus on building furnaces. We are also participating in a research project aimed at reducing ecological waste, which we are implementing through local organisations.

Our assistance since 2008

We have been in DR Congo since 2008, where we help hundreds of thousands of people every year. The people we help are often victims of long-term conflict, displaced, or affected by poverty.

In addition to our flagship nutrition projects, we have been supporting affected populations across South Kivu and Maniema provinces for over 15 years. We have been distributing seeds and farming tools and, together with local experts, training beneficiaries in their use (this activity continues in Lemera). We are supporting displaced and vulnerable local people with cash assistance; we are also improving the hygiene conditions of selected health facilities. In addition, we help communities to access drinking water in their homes and prevent water-borne diseases; often in partnership with local organisations. Furthermore, we provide access to quality health care for the most vulnerable.

Although the Democratic Republic of Congo has immense natural resources, it is one of the countries with the highest number of people living below the poverty line. For many years, DR Congo has endured a severe humanitarian crisis, which the United Nations considers to be one of the world's largest. Political instability, natural disasters, and a lack of security are preventing the country from developing. The First (1996-1997) and Second (1998-2003) Congo Wars have cost 3.8 lives victims and the massive displacement of the country's population. Currently, DR Congo is home to almost 7 million IDPs (October 2023 estimation, IOM, vast majority in the Eastern part of the country).

Our activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been funded over the years by various donors such as the European Commission Humanitarian Aid, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Global Affairs Canada, UN Humanitarian Funds, UNICEF, and private donors.