DR Congo: Emergency Response & Recovery

As a result of ongoing fighting and persistent instability in the South Kivu region are dealing with a serious food crisis, poverty and overall poor living conditions of local people. The most urgent humanitarian situation is in the area of Kimbi Lubenge that is covered by a joint effort of People in Need (PIN) with cooperation of International Medical Corps. We are focusing on integrated emergency actions in health, nutrition, protection, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).  

One of the goal is to treat malnutrition, especially among vulnerable groups – young children (under 5) and pregnat and lactating women. Through this project, people will gain better access to quality primary and secondary health care, including mental health services. Regional health-care centers will be better supplied with acute treatment, equipped with new latrines, showers, hand washing station and incinerators, and health personnel will be trained to provide effective assistance.  Within our programmes we promote good hygiene and nutritional practices which are crucial for sustainable improvement of the health status of the population. In total, this project will support 14 healthcare facilities and benefit almost 100 000 people in the area.

The province of South Kivu has been dealing with a severe and multifaceted humanitarian crisis for several decades. With a 5.5 million internally displaced persons, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the countries most profoundly affected by population displacement worldwide. The primary reasons are the significant presence of numerous armed groups and recurrent flooding during the rainy season, which worsens the already alarming levels of food insecurity. Disturbingly, over one in four people in the country experience food insecurity, and 4.2 million individuals suffer from global acute malnutrition, with 2.4 million of them being children under the age of 5.  

In this context, People in Need (PIN) concentrates its efforts on the communities in the health zones of Lemera and Nyangezi, where life-saving assistance is provided through various interventions. Cash distributions enable the most vulnerable households to meet their basic needs. Additionally, water points and distribution networks are rehabilitated to ensure access to safe water, which is crucial for preventing the spread of waterborne diseases and addressing malnutrition. Project includes interventions for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition of children, that involve the implementation of therapeutic foods and nutritional supplements to the most vulnerable. PIN also offers supervision and training to healthcare staff, including doctors and nurses, to enhance the quality of treatment provided. Health centers are equipped with essential medicines and pharmaceuticals to deliver comprehensive and systematic care to patients afflicted by common illnesses. We are supporting families with distribution of seeds, that are produced locally, for use in their own land or garden. Community awareness campaigns for families and primarily women, are focused on conducting cooking demonstrations, where they could learn how to use locally available nutrient-rich foods essential for the proper growth and development of children. By this project PIN will be able to help more than 30 000 vulnerable people to improve their living conditions.  

The ongoing project in the province of South Kivu (specifically Itombwe and Minembwe) continues with its next phase. This region has been dealing with a long-standing armed conflict and natural disasters, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis. The presence of armed groups has forced the local population to flee their homes in search of safety in other parts of the region. Additionally, the lack of access to healthcare, clean drinking water, and the prevalence of acute malnutrition have significantly impacted vulnerable groups, including children under 5 years old, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. 

To address these challenges, People in Need is working in collaboration with Doctors of the World (DoW), a partner organization, to provide assistance to the most affected populations facing insecurity, poverty and health challenges. Our primary focus is on the most vulnerable population including women of reproductive age, children, survivors of sexual violence, and internally displaced persons . The project aims to enhance the treatment of malnutrition, and offers training to healthcare professionals and community workers in the identification, prevention, and management of malnutrition cases. We distribute pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, such as nutritional pastesto hospitals while also rehabilitating these facilities to meet basic hygiene standards. Additionally, an informative campaign is being conducted to educate community members about proper hygiene practices and the importance of a well-balanced diet. We also emphasize strengthening women's rights and promoting their active involvement in decision-making processes at both the household and community levels. We provide psychosocial support and conduct awareness-raising activities. These combined actions contribute to the overall goal of improving the well-being of the affected population in South Kivu. 

The province of South Kivu has been facing an acute and complex humanitarian crisis for several decades. With 5.5 million internally displaced persons, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the countries most affected by population movements in the world. The main factors explaining population movements are mainly presence of numerous armed groups, and recurrent flooding during the rainy season, what cause alarming situation in food insecurity. More than 1 in 4 people in the country are food insecure and 4.2 million people suffer from global acute malnutrition, which 2.4 million are children under the age of 5.

PIN focuses on communities in Lemera and Nyangezi where we provide life-saving assistance through different types of activities. Thanks to the cashdistribution, the most vulnerable households are able to cover their basic needs.. Rehabilitation of water points and distribution networks will ensure access to safe water, which is crucial for preventing the spread of water-borne diseases and malnutrition. Besides, PIN provides supervision to the health care staff, and trains doctors and nurses in quality treatment. Health centers are equipped with essential medicine and pharmaceutics so they are able to provide holistic and systematic care to patients suffering from common diseases (e.g. malaria, diarrhea, dehydration, pneumonia). Community awareness campaigns are focusing on caregivers, mostly women, by conducting cooking demonstrations using local high-nutrient-rich food important for good growth and development of children. Community volunteers are regularly visiting communities helping to identify malnutrition cases, and sharing information on hygiene and nutrition practices.

The population of the Fizi region in South Kivu have long been suffering from clashes between armed groups. Violence and the associated forced displacement of thousands of households in recent months has significantly worsened the humanitarian situation in the area. People fleeing armed groups find

themselves in deep material insecurity, without financial resources or shelter, and often struggling to find livelihoods in their host communities. The arrival of displaced populations in generally very poor communities puts great pressure on local agriculture, disrupts the balance of local markets and leads to the exhaustion of local food supplies.

People in Need intervenes in the area of Lulimba, Lumbwe, Namukola, Maindombé, Kilembwe and Kyumbwe to provide emergency assistance to the most vulnerable host and displaced households, in particular pregnant and lactating women and their children. The project distributes one-off cash to households to cover their most urgent basic needs for one month. At the same time, the project is running an awareness-raising campaign on good hygiene and eating habits. Health volunteers are also being trained and will disseminate key health and hygiene information to local communities so that the information reaches as wide a range of people as possible.

The ongoing project in the province of South Kivu (specifically Itombwe and Minembwe) continues with its next phase. This region has been dealing with a long-standing armed conflict and natural disasters, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis. The presence of armed groups has forced the local population to flee their homes in search of safety in other parts of the region. Additionally, the lack of access to healthcare, clean drinking water, and the prevalence of acute malnutrition have significantly impacted vulnerable groups, including children under 5 years old, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. 

To address these challenges, People in Need is working in collaboration with Doctors of the World (DoW), a partner organization, to provide assistance to the most affected populations facing insecurity, poverty and health challenges. Our primary focus is on the most vulnerable population including women of reproductive age, children, survivors of sexual violence, and internally displaced persons . The project aims to enhance the treatment of malnutrition, and offers training to healthcare professionals and community workers in the identification, prevention, and management of malnutrition cases. We distribute pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, such as nutritional pastesto hospitals while also rehabilitating these facilities to meet basic hygiene standards. Additionally, an informative campaign is being conducted to educate community members about proper hygiene practices and the importance of a well-balanced diet. We also emphasize strengthening women's rights and promoting their active involvement in decision-making processes at both the household and community levels. We provide psychosocial support and conduct awareness-raising activities. These combined actions contribute to the overall goal of improving the well-being of the affected population in South Kivu. 

The rural area of Bijombo, located in South Kivu in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is among the most affected areas by a profound humanitarian crisis. It is due to clashes between armed groups, accompanied by violence against civilians, killings, rapes, looting of property, the slaughtering of livestock as well as burning of villages. In the Bijombo region alone, more than 8 000 people have had to flee their homes in the last two years and, given the volatile security situation, are unable to return home in the near future. As a result of the numerous displacements, these people have very limited access to basic goods and services, including health care.

People in Need, together with its partner organisation Doctors of the World, are the only providers of regular nutritional and medical assistance in the Muramvya, Maheta, Katanga/Budamo and Central Bijombo areas. Yet this is where thousands of internally displaced people have taken refuge since 2019. However, due to the increased security risk in recent months, our humanitarian workers have also had to leave their original sites. We are now providing assistance to the internally displaced in the Bijombo and Lemera areas. The project focuses on the most vulnerable populations to disease and malnutrition, i.e. children under 5 years old and pregnant women and nursing mothers.The intervention also focuses on specialized care for raped women, as well as women's empowerment along with the prevention of violence against women.  The project also includes awareness raising on prevention of coronavirus and other diseases.
 

Kabambare has long been one of the areas of the DRC, facing extremely high levels of malnutrition and poverty as a result of conflicts between armed groups. Some 33,000 people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Ongoing conflicts in adjacent areas are constantly forcing the population to move, making it difficult for them to work in the fields and, as a result, endangering their food security. Remoteness, impassable terrain, and unstable security situations do not allow local people access to markets and healthcare. Deliveries of medicines and medical supplies are lengthy and costly, which is why hospitals and other medical facilities report an acute shortage. Medical facilities in remote villages, often affected by conflict, do not have sufficient resources to ensure a hygienic environment, which significantly increases the risk of disease transmission. People in Need works with local communities to improve their living conditions, especially in the areas of nutrition, health, and hygiene. The People in Need team, in cooperation with the partner organization Doctors of the World, focuses its attention on the most vulnerable groups, which are mainly children under 5 years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Helping victims of sexual violence is no less important. We train the health care staff and ensure that there are enough vital medicines, highly nutritional products for the treatment of malnutrition, and other basic equipment. In addition to ensuring access to quality health care and malnutrition treatment for more than 25,000 people, an important part of the project is an information campaign carried out by local health volunteers directly in the communities. They raise awareness about the prevention and effects of malnutrition and other common diseases as well as good hygiene habits and a proper diet. The campaign is designed to respond to the needs of women and children, who are most affected by malnutrition and other diseases, but also places great emphasis on involving men so that they too know what is important in prevention and treatment. Thanks to the active involvement of volunteers, this knowledge is spreading among all residents and even in very remote villages, where they help prevent further cases of acute malnutrition.

Itombwe and Mimebwe are located in the province of South Kivu. The province has been facing a humanitarian crisis for many years due to long-standing armed conflict and natural disasters and its population is forced to flee their homes in search of security and land in other parts of the region. Armed groups controlling access roads, natural resources, and land terrorize the population, by committing violence, looting, and kidnapping. Acute malnutrition and limited access to health care and drinking water have a huge impact on the health of vulnerable groups of children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women. Lack of knowledge about the symptoms and causes of malnutrition and other related diseases, an unbalanced diet, and poor hygiene conditions allow the spread of diseases. The health care structure is logistically and financially inaccessible for the population. Hospitals are often the target of armed attacks, and are looted or damaged. As a result of conflict, some health centers are set up in temporary places where they are unable to provide qualified care and lack medical supplies and staff.People in Need, in cooperation with the partner organization Doctors of the World (DoW), provides assistance to the population most affected by the insecurity and socio-economic and health crisis, especially children aged 0-59 months, women of reproductive age, victims of sexual violence, and refugees. We improve  malnutrition treatment in hospitals and train the health care staff and community workers in recognition, prevention, and treatment of malnutrition. Thanks to the information campaign, community members are informed about good hygiene practices and a balanced diet. As part of the cooperation with DoW, special attention is also paid to victims of sexual violence, especially their physical and mental health. Strengthening women's rights and active participation in decision-making processes at the household and community level, as well as raising awareness of violence against women and girls, is a key aspect of our work. Necessary pharmaceuticals and other medical materials, such as nutritional pastes, are distributed to hospitals, which are also rehabilitated to meet basic hygiene standards.
People in Need and the partner organization Doctors of the World are jointly providing life-saving access to quality health care and malnutrition treatment for up to 92,000 people in the Itombwe and Mimebwe area.

This project was established in response to the humanitarian crisis that escalated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during 2018, particularly in the eastern part of the country. According to the United Nations, up to 13 million people in the DRC are currently in need of humanitarian assistance.  People in Need is working in the Kabambare region, where the malnutrition rate is alarmingly high – every fifth person is undernourished. The project delivers aid to children and mothers of small children in particular.
The Kabambare region is difficult to access because of the lack of safe roads and paths. This makes it challenging to supply medicines and medical materials to hospitals and other health-care facilities, which constantly report severe shortages of both. Health-care facilities in remote villages, which are most affected by the conflict, suffer the greatest resource deficiencies, which in turn increases the risk of disease transmission.
In response, People in Need provides life-saving medicines, high-nutritional supplements to treat malnutrition, health-care materials, and other medical equipment. We also train staff at local health-care facilities on how to prevent malnutrition and ensure good nutrition, and on the importance of breastfeeding for the healthy development of children. We also focus on positive changes in basic personal hygiene habits.
To date, we have provided basic health care for at least 3,000 undernourished children and 200 undernourished women. We also ensure an adequate supply of medicines and nutrition packages to health-care facilities, and help train health-care workers.
People in Need also trains mothers – in the presence of their husbands – on how to identify, prevent and treat malnutrition and diseases in their children. Thanks to the active involvement of men in this process, PIN has observed gradual societal changes. For instance, men have begun to realize what is and isn’t safe for their wives during pregnancy. They have also learned about what should be avoided during pregnancy and what a quality diet should include. Local health-care volunteers receive similar trainings to help hospitals and health-care centers identify cases of malnutrition and other diseases in remote villages. These volunteers share their acquired knowledge among all people in far-flung villages. Thus, PIN-trained volunteers are helping prevent other cases of acute malnutrition, one of the most serious problems in the Congo.
 

There is a lot of violence and population movements in Kalole, in the South Kivu province. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), during the latest violence, more than 4 300 students lost access to education following school closures, and 30 000 people lost access to health care following closures of health facilities while many people have moved.
The overall goal of the intervention is to contribute to the improvement of living conditions of the people affected by the crises by enforcing food security in the area.
The intervention contributes to the improvement of immediate and medium-term food security through cash support, better access to improved seeds, tools and trainings for farmers and their families. PIN targets the most vulnerable households, including those without access to land. For these households, the intervention supports groups and facilitates access to community fields for sowing and harvesting. Setting seed banks will allow the inhabitants to plant crops also in the next season, and to increase the availability of improved seeds in the area.

.The deteriorating security situation, poor accessibility, extreme levels of acute and chronic malnutrition, over 150,000 displaced people in 2017 - all of which are characterized by the province of Maniema, where People in Need is currently working. Within this project, we help the most vulnerable groups in the Kabambare area, children under 5, mothers and pregnant women for whom poor hygiene, inadequate nutrition and poorly prepared diet are among the most important factors that negatively affect their health and development. We support local healthcare facilities to distribute special rich nutritional pastes and milk, which by their composition help to treat acute malnutrition in young children. We also provide training for women, health professionals and community members about the causes of malnutrition, its measurement, prevention and treatment. At the same time, we strive to increase awareness of proper hygiene that prevents the transmission of bacteria causing diarrheal disease.

In the inaccessible areas of the Congo bush in the Shabunda region, we focus on the treatment of acutely malnourished children, the transport of nutrition supplements to the health nutrition centres and the training of medical staff. That is accompanied by raising awareness in communities covering information about prevention as well as timely detection of malnourishment and the options for suitable treatment. For instance, last year in Shabunda we helped 19,287 people. We are continuing to help in 2017, when we intend to provide help to 36,330 people.

Work in Shabunda is complicated by the difficult terrain where all aid, including medicines, is airlifted in via humanitarian flights and subsequently transported by motorbike or even on foot to distant villages and healthcare centres. To complicate matters, a number of rebel groups operate in these areas, which are rich in natural resources, threatening the safety of local people and complicating the work in the terrain.

In 2015 and 2016 we also helped  mothers and children amongst the refugees from Burundi who, in reaction to the worsening political situation at home, crossed the borders into eastern Congo which is already suffering from food scarcity.  Under this programme we were able to help a total of 2,629 children suffering from acute malnourishment, children both from Burundi and from the host communities.

People in Need operates in several remote and unstable areas of South Kivu. It strives to strengthen the health infrastructure in the province and make basic health care accessible to internally displaced persons as well as the local host population.

Particularly, we focus on supporting the centers by training of their personnel, rehabilitation of the physical facilities, providing basic medicines, equipment and materials. In addition we provide performance related payments to the personnel of the supported health centers in order to ensure the free primary care to the internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups. Within our programs we promote good hygiene and nutritional practices which are crucial for sustainable improvement of the health status of the population.

Given the poor conditions of the centers, People in Need also focuses on reconstruction of maternities and health center buildings, and installs new facilities such as latrines and rainwater catchment systems. The health personnel is also trained in the basic medical facilities hygiene, which comprises the burning of infectious material and the use of appropriate cleaning agents.

The community health volunteers are one of the main channels for the awareness raising. They are usually trained by PIN in different messages which they transmit to their neighbors during subsequent village meetings.

Some examples of the messages:

• The handwashing before every meal and after using the toilet is essential to prevent diarrhea and other diseases;
• The breast milk is the best food for the infants up to six months;
• The birth in the health facilities is safer, because the trained health personnel is able to intervene in case of obstetrical or new-born emergencies.

Furthermore PIN provides psychosocial and medical assistance to the rape victims and abused women, with an increased focus on prevention of rape by the sensitization of the communities and its leaders. (According to the UN estimates, up to 200 thousand women have been raped in the South and North Kivu provinces in the last 15 years.)

Along with the activities mentioned above, PIN collaborates extensively with the Provincial Health Department on the capacity building of the health care personnel and community volunteers.