The other forgotten crisis in the DRC: 540,000 internally displaced people in Tanganyika province
‘Without the support from WFP, I would not be able to look after my family’
Humanitarian crises follow each other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the risk of overshadowing each other. In the Tanganyika province, Eastern DRC, the ethnic conflict has grown with intensity, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing on foot to seek refuge from the ongoing violence and loss of life in their once peaceful villages. After a treacherous journey, with some walking hundreds of miles, many of them find refuge on sites near the town of Kalemie, and rest only once they have built their makeshift shelters.
In the Katanika site, we have a chat with Ms. Kyunga. On the footsteps of her hut, she holds her youngest child in her arms, a small bundle of wood by her side. “I spend part of my day collecting firewood to sell for 200 Congolese Francs a bundle (0.15 US$). This month is especially hard because my three year old is sick. Health care has absorbed a large part of my earnings, so without the support from WFP I would not be able to look after my family.”
Ms. Kyunga’s seven children have been weakened by the 90 km walk that separates her village from Katanika. The World Food Programme (WFP), thanks to the support of the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), has helped alleviate the suffering of many internally displaced people (IDPs) with cash distributions of US$20 per person, per household. Home to some 11,000 IDPs, this site has grown quickly since 2016.
Not far from Katanika is the Kalunga site, which is the largest in the Tanganyika province and home to 21,000 people. Whilst trying to navigate the jumble of dusty pathways, we meet a few women, including Ms. Muzinga, preparing a meal. The food basket received from WFP, with the support of USAID, consisting of maize flour, beans, oil and salt, is appreciated by Ms. Muzinga, because she cannot find any work. “There are many of us here, there is no way to farm and work is scarce. All I want is to return to my village and continue cultivating my land again, but it is too dangerous,” she says, worried.
Elsewhere in the province, deadly clashes continue and it is not unusual to see scores of people walking along the roads, in a desperate attempt to reach safety. Adding to their desperation, some IDP sites have been burnt to the ground in unclear circumstances, such as Moni site in April. According to the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of IDPs in the province has escalated from 166,000 in March 2016 to 540,000 in May 2017. WFP continues to assist the most vulnerable with food and cash assistance, despite scarce budgetary resources to reach all of the vulnerable displaced people.
