UNICEF DR Congo Humanitarian Situation Report No.1 – Reporting Period: 1 January to 30 June 2022 – Democratic Republic of the Congo

HIGHLIGHTS

• Following intensified conflicts and violence in the eastern provinces, increased number of outbreaks compounded by limited basic services, the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate. With 27 million people in need of humanitarian assistance – including 15.8 million children, the scale and complexity of needs and protection concerns remain overwhelming.
• Close to 680,000 people received life-saving emergency assistance through UNICEF’s rapid response mechanism and the cholera rapid response; over 540,000 people were provided with safe access to water, sanitation and hygiene; 153,000 children under 5 were treated for severe acute malnutrition; and almost 35,000 vulnerable children benefited from psychosocial support.
• However, with a 81% funding gap, UNICEF humanitarian response remains largely underfunded. Without timely and adequate funding, the multifaceted needs of the Congolese children will continue to worsen.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

• 27,000,000 People in need of humanitarian assistance
• 15,800,000 Children in need of humanitarian assistance
• 4,860,000 IDPs 3 7,638 cases of cholera since January
• 7,638 cases of cholera since January

SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

With 27 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including 15.8 million children, the scale and complexity of the humanitarian needs and protection concerns remain overwhelming, compounded by limited basic services and poor infrastructure.
During the first semester 2022, following intensified conflicts and violence in the eastern provinces of the country, the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate. Over 800,000 people have been displaced between January and June and at least one in three internally displaced people (IDP) live in Ituri province where a growing number of targeted attacks against civilian populations and infrastructure including IDP camps, schools or health facilities were reported. Increased military operations in North Kivu and Ituri provinces have further placed children at risk and the two provinces reported the highest number of verified grave violations against children. Overall, almost 2,000 grave violations against children were verified through the UN Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) during the first semester – 25% of cases being recruitment and use. As such, a 92% increase of children verified as being associated with armed groups has been reported for the first three months of 2022 compared to the last quarter 2021. This highly volatile security situation, including threats and attacks against humanitarian workers has also hampered the access to crisis-affected children to provide a timely response.
Furthermore, DRC has continued to battle against outbreaks and epidemics. 75,000 suspected measles cases and 1,048 deaths have already been reported between January and June largely exceeding the total number of notified cases in 2021 (55,771 – 35% increase at mid-year). The number of cholera cases has also increased by 53% compared to the same period last year with 7,638 suspected cholera cases and 114 deaths reported by the epidemiologic week 26 (1.9% case fatality). The most affected provinces are South Kivu (35% of suspected cases), Haut-Lomami (21% suspected cases and 45% of deaths), North-Kivu (20% of suspected cases), Tanganyika (19% of suspected cases and 21% of deaths). The country also experienced a new Ebola virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Mbandaka that was declared in April. It is the third outbreak in the Equateur province since 2018 and the 14th outbreak in DRC. Four cases were confirmed and one probable case, all of whom died.
Finally, the nutrition situation continues to be critical in the DRC. As of June 2022, the number of nutritional alerts increased by 45% compared to the same period last year. 19% of the total health zones in the country are on nutritional alerts with the Equateur and Maniema provinces being the most affected.