Democratic Republic of the Congo - Humanitarian Pooled Fund - OCHA 2020

February 2020 - The crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is characterized by inter-ethnic conflict and widespread human rights abuses including sexual violence. In 2020 15.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the DRC a 22% increase from 2019 and it is expected that 2020 brings additional population movement creating significant needs in protection livelihoods and food security. Currently the DRC is home to the second largest food crisis with almost 16 million people severely food insecure. In addition it is home to the largest internally-displaced persons (IDP) population in Africa with 5.01 million displaced people. These needs are exacerbated by the ongoing Ebola outbreak increased violence and the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Congolese refugees. GAC and other donors are providing funding to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the DRC Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF). This project represents Canada’s contribution to the DRC CBPF. This Fund provides timely allocations to national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as United Nations agencies to address some of the most critical humanitarian needs in the DRC. The CBPF’s main objectives include: (1) supporting timely responses to sudden crises and critical gaps in humanitarian operations; (2) supporting the transportation of humanitarian supplies and personnel as well as improved communications and storage capacity; and (3) capacity-building for national NGOs equipping them with strengthened financial and management tools to implement humanitarian responses.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access for the most vulnerable to life-saving humanitarian assistance (e.g. food nutrition health protection shelter water sanitation and hygiene support); (2) increased capacity of the humanitarian system to respond to urgent needs; and (3) increased capacity among national humanitarian organizations to effectively respond to urgent needs. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crises or acute food insecurity.