SOS FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO EAST OF DRCONGO
Donation protected
Hello my beloved friends !
My name is Charles Baruti and I am a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is with my heart torn with pain that I come to you to humbly ask for your emergency support for people displaced by war in Eastern Congo.
In 2016 I worked as a volunteer at the NGO called AGENCY FOR EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN DRC in the acronym EDA-DRC which works in the social and humanitarian fields for which I was personally responsible for community awareness in the emergency project for peaceful cohabitation between communities in the province of North Kivu, the city of Goma and the Nyiragongo Territory, of which I remained in good contact with the head of the NGO. The NGO says it will be able distribute the donation to the sites (camps) of those displaced by the ongoing war.
Indeed, the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been plagued by violent wars for almost 30 years and these wars have to date caused more than 13 million deaths and caused massive displacements of population.
It has largely been forgotten by the world and that’s why the humanitarian toll has been so high and devastating for the people of my country and region. “With ongoing conflict and escalating violence, the DRC is facing one of the largest internal displacement and humanitarian crises in the world,” warned the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The humanitarian situation in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri remains dire and very worrying, with an increasing number of displaced people due to the conflict and of the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in several areas of eastern DRC.
November 2023 was marked by an increase in attacks and violent murders of civilians, rapes against women and theft of agricultural products from fields abandoned by communities having fled this crisis, particularly in the territories of Beni, Rutshuru, Masisi in the North Kivu and Mahagi, Irumu, Mambassa and Djugu in Ituri.
In North Kivu, armed clashes forced an estimated 160,000 people from over 26,000 households to flee the violence in November 2023 in the Minova health zone, in the Kalehe territory on the Sake-Bweremana axis, as well as in the territory of Masisi and Walikale.
Since October 2023, nearly 560,000 people have fled conflict in the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru, Lubero, Beni and Walikale. Today, in the camps where the displaced reside around the city of Goma and Nyiragongo, there are more than 160,000 people finding shelter and safety there.
They require urgent help in terms of shelter, intimate hygiene kits, the AME kit (essential household items) as well as food. In the Mweso zone, more than 251,000 people are currently in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
In South Kivu, around 37,770 people were newly displaced in the territories of Fizi, Shabunda, Kalehe and Uvira due to violent clashes between different armed groups.
Recent clashes between the FARDC and the M23 rebels have led to new population movements towards Minova; around the city of Goma, Nyiragongo, and in sake. In eastern Congo, it is estimated at least 48 women are raped per hour every day and every hour by armed men, and in the territory of Uvira, attacks against civilians are increasing. In the territory of Fizi, torrential rains have left 10,000 people homeless and living in their areas without any humanitarian assistance due to lack of funding from partners working in this area and this situation is causing deaths and exposes women to being victims of sexual exploitation in order to provide for their families something to eat.
Given this situation; the thousands of survivors of this disaster are exposed to various risks linked to psychological and even sexually transmitted diseases, yet they live without any medical assistance.
To receive treatment, each person must pay to travel and then pay again for their care by a doctor. In the province of Ituri, nearly 13,300 households or 79,800 people were newly displaced following attacks by CODECO armed groups.
In addition, 13 children were injured by an explosive device in Aru territory. A village in the territory of Djugu, where people had previously returned from earlier conflict, was burned. On November 30, 2023, nearly 5.59 million internally displaced people were registered in the three provinces, including 2.41 million in North Kivu; 1.68 million in Ituri and 1.5 million in South Kivu.
Women and children represent approximately 60% of the displaced population in all these areas in eastern Congo; and which urgently require humanitarian assistance. More than 85% of these displacements are the result of attacks and armed clashes.
Humanitarian actors are determined to provide multisectoral assistance to vulnerable populations; only the lack/insufficiency of funding remains an obstacle to partners intervening in the different zones in humanitarian emergencies, case of the NGO EDA-DRC where I used to volunteer in 2016 during my last year at the University of Goma (UNIGOM).
In view of all of the above and with the hope that my message will touch all of humanity, I am launching an SOS to anyone of good will to provide financial or material support so that their internally displaced persons who have fled the conflicts of wars of the M23 and other armed groups as indicated above, to come to their aid, including their urgently needed are shelter kits; KHI kits (Intimate Hygiene Kit), AME Kit (Essential Household Items), Food Kit and other needs.
This population, having fled the M23 war without bringing anything with them, and leaving their homes in their areas origins present an urgent need for humanitarian assistance to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in the sites (Camps); malnutrition, famine which is very high in the different sites (Camps); cholera epidemic; malaria; and other sexual diseases because many women and adolescent girls are also sometimes victims of exchanging sex for money in order to meet the basic needs of their family and household.
Which means that this assistance can help women and adolescent girls to no longer frequent brothels, or risk being raped in the bush while looking for vegetables or woods. Your financial support will also reduce other risks linked to violence, sexual exploitation, unwanted pregnancy, forced marriage, risks linked to infections and diseases such as HIV AIDS, and STIs.
So I implore you to please support those forced to flee their homes during their difficult time of forced internal displacement which is caused by the conflicts of the M23 rebel wars, ADF NALU, CODECO, natural disasters linked to climate change and gender-based violence in the DRC.
Here is what your financial support can do and change a life:
- $25 can provide a KIH kit (Intimate Hygiene Kit) to a girl and a woman who have fled war conflicts and who will be menstruating in order to reduce infections in displaced sites.
- $35 can provide blankets to a family in forced internal displacement in the East of the DRC fleeing the conflicts of the M23 wars; ADF NALU; CODECO and other armed groups against clashes with the FARDC.
- $60 Can provide a complete shelter kit to a person fleeing the conflicts of the M23 wars; ADF NALU, CODECO and natural disaster in the East of the DRC.
- $85 can help an internally displaced family fleeing the conflicts of the M23 wars; ADF NALU, CODECO to have a complete AME kit (Essential Household Items) in the East of the DRC.
- $92.50 can provide a complete AME kit (essential household items) to an internally displaced person fleeing war conflicts in North Kivu; Ituri; South Kivu and Tanganyika.
- $120 can provide a complete shelter kit to a family fleeing conflict, wars and natural disaster in the east of the DRC.
- $150 can provide a complete Food kit to an internally displaced family fleeing the conflicts of the wars in the East of the DRC.
- $228 can provide financial assistance to two internally displaced people living in the sites (camps) for their empowerment in order to reduce their dependence on humanitarian assistance.
- $350 can help a displaced Congolese family living outside IDP sites in the East of the DRC, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Ituri to cover its expenses for rent and solar electricity; and can obtain simple blankets, clothing for children, wife, and husband. Its various humanitarian needs for internally displaced people who have fled their homes without taking anything with them before fleeing require the generosity of each person who can feel touched to save a life in distress and who lives in inhumane conditions in eastern Congo.
Act once again to save a life.
Let's save the world together.
Organizer
Charles Baruti
Organizer
Toronto, ON