Faced with an alarming situation, the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching an urgent appeal for USD 557 million to meet the most critical needs for food assistance in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo from August to December 2023. This crisis particularly affects the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. This statement was made by the WFP in a press release issued on Friday 28 July.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, no fewer than 6.7 million people are displaced, 80% of whom are suffering from an acute food and nutrition crisis that is getting worse all the time.
"The situation in the east of the country, a region beset by conflict and persistent insecurity, is particularly catastrophic. It affects not only displaced people, but also a large part of the population. The resources required to meet the extremely urgent humanitarian needs in this region are woefully inadequate", the press release stresses.
According to estimates by this UN agency, 3.6 million people in the east of the DRC are in urgent need of food aid from the WFP.
Given the resources currently available, the WFP is giving priority to the distribution of cash aid for the months of July, August and September this year. Each month, 1.6 million people will therefore be targeted for financial assistance, the press release states.
As part of its operational scale-up plan, the WFP aims to gradually increase the number of people receiving food and cash support over the next six months. However, given the resources currently available, the agency is already finding it difficult to meet the monthly needs of 1.6 million people, the target figure up to September.
If the WFP is unable to obtain additional resources, it will be forced to considerably reduce the number of people it can help from October onwards. This is why the UN agency is insisting on the need for flexible and predictable resources to cope with rapidly changing needs.
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