The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing an unprecedented food crisis, affecting more than 26 million people, according to the World Food Program (WFP). To respond to this critical situation, the WFP is launching an appeal for the mobilization of $567 million in additional donations for the next six months.
In a press release, the WFP underlines its commitment to supporting people affected by food insecurity and conflict in eastern DRC, but warns of the risk of reducing its aid from October onwards. lack of new financing. This reduction would undermine efforts already made to scale up aid and worsen food insecurity in the region.
The DRC is one of the countries most affected by the food crisis, with nearly 26 million people experiencing food insecurity according to the results of the latest cycle of the integrated food security classification framework (IPC). Of these, around 6.7 million are in the eastern provinces of the country, notably Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
The food crisis is exacerbated by the high number of internally displaced people, which reaches around 6.3 million. The eastern provinces, particularly Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, host a large proportion of these displaced people. In total, 5.6 million people have been forced to flee their homes, including 2.8 million since March 2022 and 1 million since January 2023.
Faced with this crisis, WFP is intensifying its operations in the eastern provinces to respond to urgent needs. The goal is to help 3.6 million people experiencing food insecurity, including displaced people, host families and vulnerable communities.
The mobilization of additional funds is essential to ensure an adequate response to this food crisis in the DRC. It is essential that the international community provides financial support to enable WFP to continue providing vital assistance to affected populations. The DRC needs increased international solidarity to overcome this crisis and guarantee food security for millions of people.