CERF made available US$ 9.7 million to DRC as part of the second underfunded allocation in 2007
Surveys conducted in 2007 by implementing partners in the provinces of North Kivu, Orientale and Bandunu revealed that cases of severe and moderate acute malnutrition persist among the most vulnerable populations and need to be addressed despite all the efforts made in recent years to ensure that mortality and morbidity rates drop. Other areas that require food assistance and more research on the nutritional situation include South Kivu, Maniema, Kasaï Oriental and Équateur. In the two Kivu regions, thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), staying with host families or in camps, contributed to an increase of admissions in many therapeutic feeding centres (TFCs) of up to 25%.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was aiming to support 45,000 severely malnourished children in 2007, but with the worsening of the humanitarian situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the additional food assistance needed in other parts of the country, the needs will exceed the estimated number of beneficiaries. A CERF allocation is enabling UNICEF to take care of 12,500 children, suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and support nutritional monitoring of kids between 6 and 59 months old. Activities to fight malnutrition include the training of doctors and nurses and the supply of basic drugs, therapeutic milk and educational material to feeding centres. To guarantee appropriate monitoring in areas of severe malnutrition risk, UNICEF is providing various trainings as well as anthropometric items and conducting nutritional surveys.
![Internally displaced woman in the Eastern province of the DRC [Photo: UNHCR/Schuman]](/Portals/11/Images_country/DRC_IDP_Kivu_UNHCR_crop.jpg) |
| Internally displaced woman in the Eastern province of the DRC [Photo: UNHCR/Schuman] |
As the levels of IDPs are likely to increase due to the ongoing political conflict, the number of vulnerable rural families is also going to rise, as are the water and sanitation needs of these populations. An allocation is enabling UNICEF to protect water spots and build public latrines, while promoting family latrines and hygiene education. The so called “minimum package” response is targeting some 97,500 beneficiaries.
According to information collected under Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1612 (regarding children in armed conflict), children remain exposed to grave violations, including their use by armed groups or forces, sexual violence, abduction, maiming and even killing. With a CERF allocation UNICEF is strengthening its child protection activities. It is enhancing the monitoring and reporting mechanism established under SCR 1612 by training 200 children’s rights defenders from local organizations who operate within this framework. It is also seeking to have 500 children released from armed groups and forces and returned to their families, while supporting another 2,000 kids, formerly associated with these groups, in their effort to reintegrate their communities. Finally, it is covering specific protection and psychosocial needs of 5,000 children at risk.
A CERF grant is enabling the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in seven selected health areas in the provinces of Orientale, Kasaï Occidental and Bandundu. In order to increase access to reproductive health (RH) services, the UN agency is slightly rehabilitating 14 maternity homes, while supplying them with medical equipment and RH items. In addition, it is training 42 staff members in basic or emergency obstetric services. The beneficiaries of this programme are 25,000 women of child-bearing age living in these Eastern regions.
Of the more than 320,000 Congolese refugees living in exile, mainly in the DRC’s nine neighbouring countries, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is assisting up to 33,000 to return in safety and dignity to their village of origin. UNHCR is ensuring medical screening and vaccination, as well as HIV and malaria sensitization to the voluntary repatriation candidates. Upon their return, the beneficiaries of the CERF allocation will have access to basic health services, drinking water at 80 spots and latrines. UNHCR is taking special care of vulnerable individuals and providing extra shelter assistance to 1,800 returnee families.
210,000 Congolese IDPs (out of an estimated 1.3 million) are originally from Ituri province. A CERF allocation is enabling UNHCR to support the reintegration of IDPs in the home villages, in particular in the territories of Mahagi, Djugu and Irumu. UNHCR is extending its assistance to host communities, targeting some 120,000 beneficiaries overall. Project activities include rehabilitating or building 300 shelters, 5 schools, 5 health centres and 15 water spots. UNHCR is also seeking to relaunch agricultural production by distributing seeds and training 15 groups of farmers. Finally, the programme is aiming to strengthen the beneficiaries’ capacity to take charge of themselves.
[Last Update: 4 February 2008]]
«CERF Around the World
CERF allocates more than US$ 36.5 million to underfunded DRC
23 March 2007: The Democratic Republic of the Congo reached a historic milestone in 2006. For the first time in over 40 years, the people of the DRC cast their ballots and chose a president through democratic elections widely acclaimed as free and fair. One can observe the positive signs across the country. Most notably, the surrender of a few key rebel leaders and their followers, and marked improvements in the security situation in a number of return areas, have encouraged many Congolese displaced populations and refugees to go home. However, recent political tensions have led in February and in March 2007 to violent clashes in Bas Congo and in Kinshasa provinces leaving hundreds dead and many more wounded and showing the fragile stability of the country.
In eastern DRC the situation remains volatile. Fighting between militia groups and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) has created important population displacements – over 600,000 people abandoned their homes in 2006 – and has been accompanied by widespread human rights violations including torture, forced labour, rape and summary executions. Overall, humanitarian needs remain high and women and children tend to suffer most.
Malaria is a major public health problem in DR Congo, affecting the vast majority of the Congolese population who are exposed to endemic malaria in both rural and urban areas. Malaria remains the first cause of child morbidity and mortality, resulting in 200,000 registered deaths at health facilities, mostly among young children. Estimated 30% of hospital beds are occupied by malaria patients. UNICEF’s emergency project on malaria control is aimed at mitigating the impact of malaria morbidity and mortality ratio among pregnant women and children under 5 years of age. The CERF grant will allow for the provision of improved and timely malaria case management by primary healthcare facilities through the utilisation of combined-drug therapy and strengthened epidemiological surveillance.
 |
Women wait their turn at a hospital in Goma, DRC
[Photo: IRIN/Spring] |
WHO-UNICEF immunisation programmes focus on strengthening coverage of six antigens included in the routine immunisation programme in health zones with low vaccination coverage in the provinces of Maniema, Bandundu, Orientale and South Kivu. Activities target 400,000 pregnant women and children under five in areas of low immunisation coverage.
The CERF grant will enable UNFPA to ensure that SGBV emergency interventions encompass medical assistance to victims, psychosocial and legal counselling and social/economic reintegration support to victims. Within the Joint Initiative addressing the needs of groups affected by SGBV, UNHCR and UNICEF have specific responsibilities focusing on SGBV services for targeted beneficiaries, including children and girls, former child soldiers, IDPs and refugee populations and in accordance with agencies’ protection mandate.
UNFPA will also provide support to the improvement of reproductive health service provision in areas affected by humanitarian crises and massive return of populations (Katanga, Maniema and Province Orientale).
Moreover, UNICEF and UNHCR have strengthened coordination of assistance programmes aimed at supporting immediate needs of internally displaced families and refugees returning to their areas of origin in Congolese provinces affected by conflict. Emergency assistance to returning IDPs consists mostly of non-food item family kits and shelter, two main interventions which complement programmes aimed at supporting durable return and focusing on rehabilitation of basic services at community level. Assistance activities focus on immediate humanitarian and initial reintegration support, covering the first six months after return.
Main emergency activities comprise the following: Return movement and individual reintegration assistance focuses on supporting the return refugees and IDPs through, establishment of transit centres, provision of non-food item and shelter construction kits, food aid, and distribution of agricultural seeds and tools. Community-based initial reintegration in return areas focuses on strengthening the provision of basic healthcare services in selected health zones (rehabilitation of infrastructure, provision of essential drugs and health equipment), and expansion of access to primary schooling (rehabilitation of schools, distribution of school kits, teacher’s training), shelter construction for vulnerable returnees, income generation activities (including distribution of agricultural seeds and tools, and support to restoration of household food production), rehabilitation of safe water sources, and rehabilitation of tertiary roads to facilitate access to return areas. Protection monitoring covers areas at risk of displacement and return areas. Main activities include field monitoring systems, advocacy, assistance to victims and vulnerable returnees, information analysis and management.
Main areas of refugee return include the provinces of Katanga, South Kivu, Maniema, Equateur, North Kivu and Ituri. Katanga, South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri are also areas of high concentration of IDP returns. The joint activities of UNHCR and UNICEF focus in the above provinces. The number of IDP returnees is estimated at about 850,000 for 2007 based on the basis of the scenarios identified in the HAP and the population return trends being recorded in the above-mentioned provinces.
UNICEF and UNHCR agreed in 2006 on sharing the areas of interventions in order to achieve maximum coverage for IDP and refugee returnees. This is the case in particular for Katanga and South Kivu where UNHCR concentrates mainly on refugee returnees whereas UNICEF has been solely responding to the emergency needs of IDP returnees. In some instances, UNHCR has complemented UNICEF’s interventions on behalf of IDP returnees with clothing and shelter kits to assist IDPs rebuild their homes. Through the NFI/Emergency Shelter clusters in all four provinces and at national level, UNICEF, UNHCR and all other operational partners are coordinating their emergency responses in an effective manner.
UNICEF NFI/emergency shelter project submitted to CERF targets 120,000 most vulnerable returning IDPs in the provinces of Katanga, South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri. UNICEF is partnering with four international NGOs for the implementation of this initiative: AVSI in South Kivu, Solidarites in Ituri, the Norwegian Refugee Council in North Kivu and Catholic Relief Services in Katanga. Distribution of NFI kits is based on regular assessments of NFI needs at household level. The methods for registration of IDP returns have been harmonized with the work undertaken by UNHCR in this field.
In the context of population return, WFP food aid programme aims at improving access to food by the most vulnerable households on returning IDPs and refugees and highly vulnerable local communities in areas of population return. In addition to regular food-aid distributions, WFP activities include the provision of nutritional inputs for nutritional centres (children, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers), food-for-work interventions in selected areas as well as restoration of local agricultural markets through local purchase of food commodities. FAO will seek to strengthen household food security in areas of population return.
On the basis of the food security vulnerability analysis conducted in collaboration with FAO and NGO partners in October 2006, WFP activities focus on the following areas: a/ Provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Katanga, the district of Ituri, which are affected by recurrent insecurity; b/ Province of Maniema, a zone of population return but difficult to access; c/ Province of Equateur, a major entry point of return for Congolese refugees from the Republic of Congo and other central African countries, which registers high levels of household food insecurity.
CERF funds small- and medium-scale rehabilitation of railways and secondary roads in northern/central Katanga and South Kivu provinces, which will provide WFP and other humanitarian programmes with quicker and cost-efficient access for timely delivery of humanitarian assistance and greater access to humanitarian personnel.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was the largest recipient of CERF grants in 2006 with a total of US$ 38 million received under the underfunded grants window in 2006.
This allocation to the Democratic Republic of Congo in March 2007 forms part of the third allocation from the underfunded window of the CERF.
One third of all funds from the Central Emergency Response Fund is earmarked for use in underfunded emergencies, in order to help redress imbalances in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in so-called neglected or forgotten crises remain in need.
[Last Update: 30 March 2007]
«CERF Around the World