At least 47,280 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have received humanitarian support in the country, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has reported.
However, the ICRC raised concerns over the crisis triggered by clashes between the Congolese army and fighters from March 23 Movement (M23) in Rutshuru territory.
The ICRC, in a statement, said the scale of need remains vast at sites providing shelter to displaced people.
The organisation revealed that many of the families who moved due to the escalation of conflict are unable to receive food and are desperately waiting for aid to get to them.
Data from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reveal that in 2021, 19.6 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance in DRC.
It also showed that at the end of 2021, 5.5 million people were internally displaced in the country and a further one million Congolese were refugees outside the country.
‘Many of the families who had moved to the camp in Kanyaruchinya following the escalation of the conflict between the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Congolese army in Rutshuru last October, had not yet received any food. People were desperately waiting for aid to arrive’, the statement read.
It noted that with the help of volunteers from the Red Cross Society in the country, goods were distributed to the 47,280 people, including displaced people and host families.
Going further, the statement explained the dire condition of displaced persons on the site after leaving everything behind in a nid to flee armed violence.
‘Many have taken on jobs as day labourers. However, this kind of work is becoming increasingly scarce, given the exponential growth in the number of displaced people’, it noted.
‘As a result, the income of households (internally displaced people and host families) remains low. The cost of food consumption does not exceed an average of 2,000 Congolese francs (approximately 1 US dollar) per day’.
The organisation explained the condition of the camp, which is far from sanitary, adding that cholera cases have been reported at the site.
It also noted that the delivery of aid was hampered by security problems and inaccessible roads in some regions.
Source: ICRC
Photo source: ICRC
