Democratic Republic of the Congo

Overview

A complex emergency has persisted in DRC for more than 20 years. Population displacement is frequent and repeated, and mostly driven by armed clashes and intercommunal violence between foreign, self-defence, and other armed groups. More than 5 million people are internally displaced. The situation in the eastern provinces remains particularly volatile; humanitarian needs are projected to be higher in 2021 than at the beginning of 2020, as displaced and local populations are faced with violence, food insecurity, floods, disease outbreaks, and the secondary effects of COVID-19 restrictions. Over 941,000 refugees from DRC live in African host countries. DRC also hosts about 527,000 refugees, mainly from Rwanda, Central African Republic, Congo, and Angola.? Since mid-December 2020, 92,000 refugees fleeing violence related to the 27 December elections in CAR have arrived in Bas-Uele, Nord-Ubangi, and Sud-Ubangi provinces. Most of the arrivals are located in villages close to the river border, where access is a challenge and where host communities were already struggling to meet their own needs. ?

Over 7,900 protection incidents were reported across DRC in 2020, a 21% increase from 2019 attributable to the deteriorating security situation in conflict-affected areas. 93% of recorded violations occurred in Nord-Kivu, Ituri, and Sud-Kivu. Reported extrajudicial killings by armed groups increased dramatically, from 1,029 in 2019 to 2,487 in 2020. ?

19.6 million people – 29% of the analysed population – are projected to need food assistance for the January–June 2021 period. This is an increase from the 13.56 million (28% of the analysed population) in the same period last year. It is, however, a decrease from the July–December 2020 period (21.8 million, or 33% of the analysed population), mainly because predictions for the January–June 2021 period include the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and favourable weather conditions. Insecurity, displacement, and poor transport infrastructure will continue to hamper the population’s access to food.?

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