Worst-case scenarios now unfolding

A report has warned that the grimmest forecasts of the humanitarian situation in DRC are now materialising and worst-case scenarios built into contingency plans are unfolding. The report, issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kinshasa, said the humanitarian crisis in the country had entered a new phase. In the beginning, the crisis was limited to a few distinct epicentres of humanitarian emergency. But “currently, complex humanitarian crises cover more or less proportionally the entire territory of the country,” the report said. There are now over 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs). “The fuel shortage shows the most visible and unpredictable face of the crisis,” the report stated. “Every day, one is faced with masses of women, children and men, workers, students waiting for hypothetical transport or with the queues outside petrol stations.” The fuel crisis is a direct result of the currency crisis after the devaluation of the Congolese franc by 53 percent in October.

“A simple and incremental growth in the volume of humanitarian assistance would basically have a negligible impact on the overall humanitarian situation in DRC, although it may bring short-term solutions to communities at a very local level,” the report said. “Logistical miracles and emergency operations in practically all parts of the country in 2000 have failed to save the lives of vulnerable people affected by conflict.”