Project profile — Pooled Fund in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - UNDP 2018

March 2018 - The humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has deteriorated dramatically over the past year. The crisis has deepened and spread, affecting people in areas previously considered stable and stretching the coping mechanisms of people in areas already impacted. The surge in violent conflict and inter-communal tensions has forced millions of people to flee their homes in 2017, bringing the total number of internally displaced people in the DRC to 4.49 million. Insecurity has had a devastating impact on people’s ability to access food, and 7.7 million people across the DRC are facing severe food insecurity – a 30 per cent increase from the same time last year. It is estimated that 13.1 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018. In October 2017, the United Nations (UN) activated a level 3 (L3) system-wide emergency response for the DRC due to a lack of donor support and ballooning critical needs. This deterioration, observed mainly in the Kasai, South and North Kivu and Tanganyika regions, is taking place against the backdrop of one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises. GAC and other donors are providing funding to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the DRC Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF). This Fund provides timely allocations to national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as UN agencies to address some of the most critical humanitarian needs in CAR. The Fund's main objectives include: (1) supporting timely responses to sudden crises and critical gaps in humanitarian operations; (2) supporting the transportation of humanitarian supplies and personnel as well as improved communications and storage capacity; and (3) capacity-building for national NGOs, equipping them with strengthened financial and management tools to implement humanitarian responses.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access for the most vulnerable to life-saving humanitarian assistance (e.g. food, nutrition, health, protection, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene support); (2) increased capacity of the humanitarian system to respond to urgent needs; and (3) increased capacity among national humanitarian organizations to effectively respond to urgent needs. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved, suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crises or acute food insecurity.

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