Kinshasa, March 17th, 2023 (CPA) – US$127.4 million is needed for emergency humanitarian assistance to displaced people in three provinces of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Food Program (WFP) said on Thursday in a statement received by the CPA.
« The WFP urgently needs $127.4 million to provide food and cash to save the lives of 1.1 million people in North Kivu, Ituri and South Kivu from March to June 2023, » the document said.
« WFP is expected to run out of resources soon, threatening our pipeline of assistance, » the statement said.
In North Kivu, WFP plans to provide food or financial assistance to 530,000 displaced people mainly in three (3) of six (6) accessible territories. The number of displaced people is likely to exceed one million in this province alone since the crisis began a year ago, the source said. Most are refugees in Nyiragongo, Beni and Lubero.
In Ituri, particularly in Drodro, the number of displaced people in five territories is estimated at 1.5 million last year. WFP is targeting 329,000 of them.
In South Kivu, three sites are expected to receive a further 100,000 IDPs fleeing the conflict in North Kivu by April. These are in addition to the 500,000 already displaced in South Kivu since last year. WFP is targeting 248,000 of them for food aid.
The resurgence of fighting between the 23 March Movement (M23) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in North Kivu has led to massive population displacement, triggering a humanitarian drama.
