Map: Affected provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cameroon
Central African
Republic
South Sudan
Equatorial
Guinea
Gabon
Uganda
Congo
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
Kinshasa
Kasai
North
Kivu
Rwanda
South Burundi
Kivu
Tanzania
Angola
Zambia
The UN mission to DRC, MONUSCO, has also
cited improved security as the basis for reducing
its presence in some territories. Whether proper
measures will be taken to ensure that IDPs are
moved to areas where their protection needs are
fully addressed as camps close remains to be seen.
Kasai province in central DRC had remained relatively calm until July 2016, when conflict broke
out between a tribal group and the country’s
armed forces. Brutal fighting affected around
36,000 households, uprooting residents and
forcing them to flee to nearby villages and
forests.16 Many parents who remained in the
territory have taken their children out of school
in an attempt to spare them the violence.17
IDPs’ protection needs were at their most acute
in Beni territory, where civilians have been
kidnapped, maimed and executed.18 Nearly
200,000 people have been displaced by armed
conflict between foreign militias and government forces that continues to uproot vulnerable
men, women and children and shows no sign
of easing.
Inter-communal violence also led to kidnappings,
rape and killings in Rutshuru. At least 15,000 IDPs
were seeking shelter in the territory and required
emergency assistance following their displacement from Nyanzale town and nearby areas in
mid-2016. Humanitarian agencies working in the
area have said that the violence has hindered
their ability to help.
Funding for the response to the crisis in DRC has
become a major concern. Data shows a steady
decline in donor governments’ commitments
over the last four years, and only 60 per cent
of pledged funding was provided in 2016.19 The
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) has said that it needs at least
$748 million to implement its 2017 action plan to
meet the needs of more than 7.3 million people
in need of aid.20
DRC’s crisis is often overlooked by media and an
international community focused on the latest
disaster or conflict to capture their attention. This
will have dire consequences for several million
people in desperate need of assistance. The
country has been in conflict for the best part of
20 years, but evidence shows that the situation
for the most vulnerable has deteriorated severely
in recent years.
Humanitarian agencies that bear the brunt of
the protection burdens are having to work ever
harder and longer in very dangerous conditions, and with ever fewer financial and human
resources.
ON THE GRID: Global internal displacement in 2016
15