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WFP D. R. Congo External Situation Report #21 - 29 January 2021

Pays
RD Congo
Sources
WFP
Date de publication

In Numbers

19.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 4 million more than in 2019

With 5.2 million IDPs, the DRC is the African country most impacted by internal displacement

In 2020, WFP assisted 6.9 million people, of whom 1.4 million in December

Highlights

  • The new Country Strategy Plan 2021-2024, with a focus on resilience building, started on 1 January 2021.

  • WFP continues its scaled-up response, prioritizing assistance to IDPs and meeting urgent nutritional needs.

  • To provide assistance at scale, WFP requires a total of USD 662.5 million for 2021.

Situation Update

• According to the latest Humanitarian Response Plan, 19.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the DRC, 4 million more than in the previous year. Moreover, 4.4 million people are affected by global acute malnutrition, including 3.4 million malnourished children under the age of five.

• The COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the country since March 2020, has deeply impacted DRC’s economic growth, disrupting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable households and increasing food insecurity in urban areas. However, conflictinduced displacement remains the main trigger of food insecurity. With 5.2 million internally displaced persons, the DRC remains the African country most impacted by this phenomenon.

• The country is also home to 525,000 refugees, mostly coming from Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Rwanda, and South Sudan. A wave of violence against civilians following the political elections in CAR at the end of the year forced thousands of people to cross the Ubangi river seeking shelter in the DRC provinces of Bas-Uélé and North Ubangi, further increasing the economic and demographic pressure on the host communities in the area.

• A surge in the daily number of COVID-19 cases has been reported in the country since the end of the year, especially in Kinshasa. As a result, the Government introduced more preventive measures, including an overnight curfew and movement restrictions. As of 29 January, some 22,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 22 provinces, including 670 deaths.