The DRC, which is the second largest country in Africa, has a history of power struggles over its wealth. This is still the root cause of most of its troubles.
The current crisis is the consequence of decades of local and regional insecurity, particularly in the eastern provinces. Over the years, armed conflicts and recurrent inter-community violence have left the population very vulnerable. The end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 were marked by the resurgence of the M23 armed group in the province of North Kivu, triggering massive population displacements in the area. In the Kasai region, inter-community conflicts caused by increased competition for access to political and customary power persisted throughout 2022, as did tensions over the control of economic and land resources. Finally, in the Maï-Ndombe province in the west of the country, a new crisis emerged, with violent inter-community clashes in the Kwamouth territory since June 2022.
Multi-sectoral humanitarian needs persist, particularly in the areas of health and nutrition, including the treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition (an estimated 3.6 million people are suffering from acute malnutrition in 2023), access to water and hygiene, food security and protection. In addition, since 2018, a series of epidemics (Ebola, measles, cholera, Covid-19 and monkey pox) have broken out and are spreading in several of the country's provinces, further weakening an already fragile population and health system.
There are still no signs of the significant improvements in the socio-economic situation long hoped for by DRC’s population, despite the obvious presence of wealth and therefore financial resources. Progress is visible in terms of life expectancy, school enrolment and gross national income per capita. However, this discreet progress in socio-economic indicators does not reflect the reality of much of this vast country, and inequalities remain a major cause for concern in most places. The health crisis caused by Covid-19 has had a major effect on the country's socio-economic indicators. Global inflation since 2022 has also had repercussions on the Congolese economy, with an inflation rate of 13.1% in 2022 and 20% since the start of 2023.
Number of HI staff: 150 people
Programmed opened in: 1995
