KINSHASA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its humanitarian partners have launched an appeal for 2.6 billion U.S. dollars to fund the country's 2024 humanitarian response plan.
The funds are aimed at providing life-saving assistance and protection to 8.7 million people in need, read a statement published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
For more than a year, the humanitarian crisis in the DRC has reached alarming levels, as a new surge in violence, particularly in the east of the country, is pushing affected populations into multiple forced displacements.
The country currently has 6.7 million people displaced within its borders, amid serious flooding emergencies and a resurgence of measles and cholera outbreaks, which has exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities of a nation that has been suffering under the effects of more than three decades of armed conflict, said the UN.
In 2024, an estimated 25.4 million people are food insecure, while acute malnutrition affects 8.4 million people, mainly children under the age of five, as well as pregnant and lactating women, according to the statement.
"The humanitarian crisis in the DRC has reached new peaks this year due to the worsening of conflicts, the emergence of new tensions, and climate-related disasters. Against this background, there are men, women and children facing very high levels of vulnerability," said the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, Bruno Lemarquis.
In 2023, the humanitarian response plan was 40 percent funded, which only allowed humanitarian actors to assist about half of the people targeted for assistance across the country. "This causes a lot of suffering, human tragedies, wasted lives. Too much of what was meant as temporary has become long-term. People want to return to their homes and resume their lives," stressed Bruno Lemarquis.
"The situation is very serious. We call on the international community to pay attention to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country's unique potential has much to offer on the environmental, mining, and tourism fronts. But that requires peace," said Modeste Mutinga Mutushayi, minister of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Actions and National Solidarity, via the statement. ■
