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Boulevard du 30 Juin, Arret VodaCom, Gombe Division, Kinshasa.
The Democratic Republic is one among the countries in the world that have a big number of Internally Displaced Persons and as consequences facing the worst humanitarian crisis.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
The Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest number of Internally Displaced Persons in the world. The United Nations described it as the most ignored humanitarian crisis in the world. DRC is not much known and IDPs also are ignored yet they live in most dire situations. We do not have clear statistics but we estimate IDPs in DRC are more than 10 million hosted particularly in the Provinces in the East mainly: Tchopo, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, and Tanganyika. At least in these provinces 7 people out 10 do face displacement due to wars since 1996 up to now each five years. More than 80% of IDPs in DRC are forced migrants because of different wars since 1996 up to now. Many are hosted in areas that are not covered by the mainstream media, and they live out of Cameras.
On top of the wars, we have also forced displaced persons who left their homes because of natural disasters such as land-slides, water flooding, Volcano eruption among others, we have also famine.
Generally only at least 1/10 IDPs in DRCongo has access to humanitarian relief aid, all the others are struggling in a very hostile environment and lack everything. The Democratic Republic of Congo does not pay so much attention on IDPs and abandoned them into the hands of international aid organizations who are very limited.
In this way our interventions are focused on the following:
Peace and Conflict Resolutions so that people can go back to their villages and start rebuilding their lives, even in areas that are under the control of armed groups, we need to work with them, train them on civilian protection, on human rights and on necessity to put in place a mode of government that favors human development. We are also working for issues that can promote peace between Rwanda and DRC.
Disaster Risks Management: This looks are prevention of disaster risks which may force many people to leave their homes especially on issues of landslides, and flooding.
Humanitarian responses: This program focuses on Relief Aid to those in difficult situations, and currently we are first of all moving with our Cameras in order to discover those IDPs who are unknown. We are also working on resilience activities such as livelihood activities and economic empowerment. We observed that poverty is the main cause of vulnerability and suffering in difficult situations in Camps. So we are working on poverty reduction among IDPs. In Provinces which are considered as post-conflict, we have also started activities of Transitional Justice.
Ituri Province is our main center on issues of Internally Displaced Persons and the month of October of each will be a month of IDPs in DRC. Monsignor Christophe Muzihirwa of Bukavu who was murdered in October 29th, 1996 because of while protecting IDPs will be the symbol of our interventions on IDPs.
