November 12, 2008 : The U.S. Government’s Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Press Releases
The U.S. Government’s Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
The first of five USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) planned flights landed in Goma on November 12. The flight carried 10,000 blankets, 5,400 water containers, 500 rolls of plastic sheeting, and 5,000 kitchen sets, for a total value of $801,500. USAID/OFDA is coordinating with the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to arrange for emergency shipments of this non-food-item assistance to supply UNICEF’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM). In addition, USAID/OFDA is providing RRM with an additional $2 million dollars to support logistics and relief commodities. These supplies will benefit 20,000 internally displaced persons in North Kivu.
On October 15, 2008, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Samuel V. Brock re-declared a disaster in response to the ongoing humanitarian emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On October 31, USAID/OFDA deployed a six-member USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) of humanitarian specialists to address the acute crisis in North Kivu. The USAID/DART is charged with assessing changing humanitarian conditions, identifying priority needs for additional programming, and facilitating humanitarian coordination and information sharing.
USAID/OFDA Humanitarian Assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008
Since October 2007, USAID/OFDA has worked though U.N. agencies and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to provide more than $21 million in humanitarian assistance to the DRC. The majority of USAID/OFDA funding has supported programs in the North and South Kivu provinces focusing on health, nutrition, humanitarian logistics, and food security. In addition, USAID’s office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided more than $71 million to meet the food needs of conflict-affected persons throughout eastern DRC, including 42,940 metric tons of emergency food assistance and funding for administrative support. The U.S. Department of State Office of Population, Refugees and Migration has provided nearly $34 million to the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), and NGO partners for repatriation and reintegration programs benefiting returning refugees, IDPs, and host communities. USAID/OFDA has maintained two program officers in DRC since 2001, and USAID/FFP has one permanent staff member.
