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Congo

Republic of Congo: Pool Department Situation Report No. 06 (as of June 14 2018)

Attachments

Highlights

  • Following the launch of the HRP 2018 in March 2018, few contributions have been received to date and the humanitarian community operating in response to the Pool crisis is facing a critical resource shortfall. Assistance operations have been significantly scaled-down despite the increasing and more diversified needs of conflictaffected populations.

  • Returns of IDPs are intensifying. The severe consequences of the conflict on infrastructures and agriculture undermine households’ ability to resettle effectively, and emphasize the need for both life-saving and early recovery assistance.

Returns to the Pool

As the security situation remains stable, displaced populations continue to return to their places of origin. Population movements are being observed both from the bordering Bouenza Department and from the bigger urban centers of Mindouli and Kinkala in the Pool Department, towards the most-affected areas.

Key informants contacted by WFP in May 2018 reported that almost all households displaced from Kimba have already returned to their villages. About 70% of displaced households have also already returned to Mayama and Kindamba. However, most of the population of Goma Tse-Tse remains displaced.

The humanitarian situation in areas of return remains precarious and both resident and previously displaced households are struggling to re-settle: agriculture and trade have been severely disrupted, houses and roads destroyed and most productive assets looted. A rapid response by the humanitarian community to provide both lifesaving and early recovery assistance is urgently needed, especially for populations in the districts of Kimba, Vindza, Kindamba and Mayama, which remained inaccessible and isolated at the heart of the conflict for up to two years, and to which returns are especially high.

Sectoral Responses

Due to a shortage of funding, assistance operations to IDPs in and from the Pool and to vulnerable returning households are suffering a serious setback. Humanitarian response activities have already been reduced to a minimum since the first quarter of the year and, unless new contributions are received, activities will inevitably further scale down in the coming months.

Food Security and Nutrition

• In May 2018, WFP provided assistance to some 68,000 conflict-affected vulnerable people in the Bouenza and Pool Departments, thus reaching 97% of WFP’s target population. In total, about USD 183,546 and 558mt of food were distributed through Cash-Based-Transfers and in-kind assistance, respectively.

• After a first mission to Kindamba in April 2018, WFP reached Kindamba again in May 2018 to provide food and nutritional assistance to vulnerable populations who had remained out of reach throughout the 2016-2017 conflict. The food convoy reached Kindamba safely and then continued to Kimba and Vindza, as well as other localities along the main routes. 127mt of food were distributed to some 12,000 people, of whom 20% are children under five and 54% are female.

• Nutritional supplements were provided to 7,200 children under the age of five and to 5,800 pregnant and breastfeeding women to treat and prevent malnutrition. The lack of trained personnel remains a major constraint in the identification and treatment of cases of malnutrition, especially in the districts of Kimba, Kindamba and Vindza.

• All WFP assistance is now managed via SCOPE, the WFP digital platform for beneficiary and transfer management. A total of 14,640 displaced households, accounting for 61,840 IDPs from the Pool, are now registered on SCOPE. Sex and age disaggregated data of IDPs registered on SCOPE and targeted by WFP’s assistance are presented below.

Protection and Gender

• 50 in kind dignity kits have been distributed in Kinkala by UNFPA to meet the specific need of girls and women preparing for or recovering from delivery. The kits also included soap and sanitary napkins.

• 215 children under 18 without birth certificate has been identified in the Bouenza department by UNHCR.

Health

• UNFPA has provided the hospital in Kinkala with medical kits, including sterilized equipment for safe childbirth. Some 60,000 people will benefit from this assistance.

• The International Committee of the Red Cross is conducting an assessment to inform the implementation of health and nutrition assistance activities in the districts of Mayama, Mindouli, Kinkala, Kindamba, Vindza, Kimba.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

• In collaboration with the Congolese Red Cross, the French Red Cross is drilling wells to provide clean drinking water to some 5,000 people in the districts of Kingoue and Yamba (Bouenza Department). The wells will also provide running water to primary schools and health centers in the targeted areas. Latrines are also being built in 4 primary school in Kingoue.

• A further 500 latrines are being built in the districts of Kingoue, Yamba and Moufati by the French Red Cross. Some 500 host families, with a total of approximately 5,000 people including IDPs and the host population, will benefit from this activity. The French Red Cross is also coordinating awareness campaigns in the Bouenza to promote health and hygiene practices among displaced and host households.

Shelter / NFI

• Household items have been distributed by UNHCR to more than 12,800 people affected by the conflict in the Pool and Bouenza Departments. The lack of household items was preventing many families from living with dignity and meeting their daily basic needs.

• 5 community shelters are being built by UNHCR in the Pool Department to accommodate up to 500 people.

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