* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Appeal
Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern DRC Conflict & Displacement - COD141
Appeal Target: US$ 792,811
Balance Requested: US$ 687,489
Geneva, 28 April 2014
Conflict in DRC has continued to cause suffering and displacement with the most recent clashes between DRC Regular Forces and Ugandan ADF NALU rebels in Beni area in North Kivu Province.
The ongoing fighting between ADF rebels and the “Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo” (FARDC) in Kamango region, since December 2013, has caused displacement and insecurity and has limited the populations’ access to their fields for food production. It is estimated that 150,251 households are displaced. The new wave of population movement includes IDPs, those fleeing to Uganda and those returning from Rwanda after the last year fighting.
As the time pass by, it is being confirmed that main ADF rebels’ strongholds have been taken over by FARDC. Therefore, the local authorities are appealing local population to return to their home villages. But the later are slow to respond to that appeal unless local administration and security services including police systems are put in place.
These spontaneous returnees who have not received any assistance are now struggling to re-start a normal life. According to the same source, the urgent needs of this population group include the rehabilitation of agricultural activities and social infrastructures which have been either looted or destroyed.
The ACT forum in DRC is planning to provide assistance to vulnerable households affected by population movement by implementing the different project components including: food security, wash, nutrition, children’s social reinsertion in the community, psychosocial support to internally displaced people, returnees as well as host families. This will be undertaken in close cooperation with the local authorities and in harmony with the cluster mechanisms.
For the full appeal document, please click here.
