Emergency Appeal: Funding Urgently Needed in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Flash Report (15 September 2023) – Democratic Republic of the Congo

USD 629.7 million is urgently needed to sustain and scale up life-saving assistance in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri.

The conditions for those housed in camps who have fled conflict in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu have become dire with the advent of the rainy season. Families are sheltering under layers of tarpaulin held up by thin wooden branches as the rains hit and create unlivable conditions.

Alongside deepening food insecurity, poor sanitation standards are worsening the health crisis. UNICEF reports that cholera is sweeping through the camps, as DRC faces the worst cholera crisis since 2017.

As the conflict does not let up, people are forced from their homes and the only shelter they can find is in these camps.

WFP is on the ground and has scaled up its capacity. Since the activation of the scale-up on 1 June, WFP has gradually increased its reach from half a million per month on average in the first half of the year, to 1.2 million in July across in-kind food, cash and nutrition programmes.

However, a lack of funding prevents any further programme expansion to those with extreme needs. WFP’s assistance is required by 3.6 million people across these scale-up provinces, though resources are not available.

WFP is forced to undertake extreme prioritisation measures, such as focusing resources on internally displaced people in camps, leaving many, including host communities, vulnerable to severe food insecurity.

WFP is urgently appealing for USD 629.7 million to meet the most pressing needs in the three scale-up provinces for the next six months – September 2023 to February 2024 – to cover the needs of 3.6 million people.

Predictable and flexible resources are urgently required as they provide WFP with the ability not only to increase the number of people it assists, but also to ensure the agility and speed of WFP’s response in view of the fragile security and humanitarian situation.