UN to provide aid to 9.6m people in DR Congo in 2021

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says 9.6 million vulnerable people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will receive urgent assistance in 2021.

The office added that the assistance would be part of the 2021 humanitarian response plan for the country.

The DRC has long been facing a deep humanitarian crisis triggered by an ongoing armed conflict and violence on one hand, and epidemics and natural disasters, on the other.

According to OCHA, the number of those who need assistance and protection increased from 15.6 million in early 2020 to 19.6 this year.

“The 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan for the DRC will provide urgent assistance to 9.6 million vulnerable people.

“A budget of $1.98 billion will be required to meet these needs,” the UN agency said in a recent stat ent published on Monday.

According to the OCHA, the DRC currently hosts 5.2 million displaced persons — the second largest number of internally displaced people in the world.

Also, 527,000 refugees were from neighbouring countries, while food insecurity in the country has reached the highest level ever recorded.

In a bid to prevent the crisis from further deteriorating, the agency developed the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2021, a unified appeal representing the activities of more than 400 operational partners.

The partnership including national and international NGOs as well as UN agencies involved in the humanitarian response in the DRC.