Democratic Republic of the Congo at a glance

The Giant with Feet of Clay

Despite the world’s largest peacekeeping mission and considerable political progress and relative stability at the national level, conflict in the east and massive humanitarian needs continued to plague the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2007. An estimated 45,000 continued to die every month, while more civilians were forced from their homes – adding to the 1.3 million already internally displaced – whilst returnees faced enormous challenges. Long considered a “forgotten crisis,” the DRC is now receiving greater donor attention. Over US$500 million was provided in humanitarian aid in 2007, including US$456 million (66 percent) of the Consolidated Appeal.

The use of Central Emergency Response Fund money and of a Pooled Fund, as well as good coordination, have been important features of the response and reflect the objectives of the Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative. However, the UN-centric and short-term nature of the response has been criticised. Furthermore, protection and long-term recovery remain key challenges and it is too early to gauge the impact of humanitarian reforms on the lives of the population. The fragility of the situation must not be underestimated.

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Thousands of Congolese people flee the village of Sake towards Goma as intense fighting takes place between the Congolese Army, the FDRC, and soldiers loyal to the rebel Tutsi leader, Nkunda, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, December 11, 2007. In the last few weeks, the FRDC has been making a large-scale military push to take back villages they lost to Nkunda late last year, and the civilian population has been caught in the middle. Thousands of civilians have been displaced from their homes across the region of North Kivu, and are suffering grave health and malnutrition crisis. In the last 12 months, about 410,000 Congolese civilians have been displaced by new fighting, and coupled with the previous 400,000 from past years, there are now about 800,000 internally displaced people in the DRC. (Credit: Lynsey Addario for The New York Times)