Emergency
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 5.4 million
- people are food insecure and need life-saving food assistance in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu
- 2.8 million
- acutely malnourished children
- US$543 million
- WFP's net funding requirement from February to July 2024
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing one of the world's largest hunger crises. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an estimated 23.4 million people are experiencing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity, including 5.4 million people in the three eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
The number of internally displaced people has reached approximately 6.4 million, with a significant concentration in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. In these three provinces, 5.3 million people have been forced to abandon their homes. From October to mid-December 2023, an additional 720,000 people were displaced by escalating violence across North Kivu.
Since June 2023, WFP has been scaling up its lifesaving food and cash assistance, along with malnutrition support, to people affected by the conflict and the resulting displacement crises in eastern DRC.
By November 2023, WFP had assisted 5.2 million people with food, cash, malnutrition support and resilience interventions across the country. In the context of escalating conflict, fluctuating food security and severe funding shortages, WFP is revising its planning to meet increasing needs.
We require an additional US$543 million to sustain operations to July 2024.
What the World Food Programme is doing to respond to the DRC emergency
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Eastern DRC Crisis
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A total 5.4 million people in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu are experiencing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity, accounting for 27 percent of the population. Of these, 1.2 million remain in emergency levels of food insecurity and require urgent food assistance to prevent them from slipping towards an even greater crisis, or even famine-like conditions. In response, WFP plans to provide food, cash and nutrition assistance to 3.6 million people in need, including internally displaced people, host families and vulnerable host communities.
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Emergency response
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WFP had reached 5.2 million people with life-saving support, including food, cash and nutrition assistance, by November 2023. There was a particular emphasis on reaching women, who comprised 63 percent of recipients. In light of escalating needs, WFP scaled up and grew its cash capacity sixfold to reach 800,000 people in July 2023.