DRC: Hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by conflict in Ituri urgently need assistance

Massive displacement

Dozens of makeshift camps like this one have sprung up in the hills of Nizi. They can be seen from each bend of the dusty roads winding through the region. The structures on the newest sites are just straw huts like Yvonne’s, while the more established settlements have some sanitary facilities such as toilets and sometimes plastic tarps to protect the shelters from the rain.

The most fortunate people live in buildings built by humanitarian agencies. Still, none of these sites sufficiently meet the needs of the displaced: They lack access to food and clean water and sanitation. Because of these deficiencies, preventable illnesses linked to the poor living conditions—like diarrhea, malnutrition, and respiratory infections and malaria—are common, sickening and killing thousands of children in the camps. According to recent surveys carried out by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the mortality rate for children under five who arrived to the camps in spring 2019 is three times above the emergency threshold.

A chain of care from the ground up 

“When the children get sick, I take them to the community health post in the camp,” said Yvonne.

Community health posts have been set up by MSF in 19 of the area’s 24 camps. They are run by community members trained to recognize the most common illnesses. These health workers measure children’s mid-upper arm circumference to test for malnutrition, carry out rapid tests for malaria, and check for fever and diarrhea.

They are equipped with stocks of easy-to-use medicines such as paracetamol and antimalarials to provide initial treatment. If needed they refer sick children to one of seven health centers supported by MSF. An MSF nurse works in each, assisting teams of local health staff.

Seriously ill children are referred to the regional Nizi general referral hospital for hospitalization and specialist care. Here, MSF supports the Ministry of Health’s intensive care and resuscitation unit, the pediatric ward, and nutrition and postnatal units. The goal is to treat children as early as possible to avoid medical complications, but given the huge needs in the region, the 56-bed pediatric ward is often at—or over—capacity.

Growing needs

In Tse Lowi camp, where Yvonne and her family live, hygiene facilities including latrines and enclosed bathing areas have been installed. But many newer settlements, such as the seven-month-old Kambe camp, lack such services. In Kambe, 426 households share just four makeshift latrines, and there is nowhere to shower. Food is scarce, the nearest water source is a 45-minute walk away, and there are few opportunities for work, with most people living on less than a dollar a day.

Since December 2019, MSF has scaled up activities to respond to the needs in the camps. But the current level of assistance is not sufficient, and people are still living in extremely poor conditions. The humanitarian community in Ituri must urgently address this escalating crisis and scale up assistance.

MSF provides medical care, works to improve access to clean water, and distributes mosquito nets and relief items at 34 sites in the health zones of Nizi, Drodro, and Angumu in DRC. We’re also responding to the ongoing Ebola outbreak—DRC’s worst ever—in Ituri and North and South Kivu provinces.