World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

During her visit to DRC, WFP Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin met internally displaced people, especially women, who are the first victims of violence. Muhami, whose little girl was abused by armed men, told Cousin her story. We are sharing it with you. As most of the displaced people, Muhami has only one dream: a just peace that will allow her to go back home and rebuild her life.

With a grant from the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), WFP is launching a pilot project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to collect food security data through mobile phone surveys.

In what has been called DRC's forgotten crisis, tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homes by violence in a remote part of Katanga province. The UN World Food Programme has been working hard to assist these displaced people since the start of last year but there are many challenges - insecurity, poor roads and lack of resources.

Marie Mwenu Afia, a mother of three, was forced to flee her town February and seek refuge in Punia following attacks by Raia Mutomboki rebels. On her way to Punia she lost her daughter to illness. Now, insecurity and poor road and transport infrastructures in Punia continue to hamper humanitarian interventions.  As Mwenu acknowledges, the only real solution to their suffering is an improvement in the security situation so they can return home and resume their lives.

Barimeya, a father of 11, was forced to leave his village when rebels took control of Rutshuru territory. He and his family sought refuge in a camp near Goma, North Kivu’s provincial capital. He has since returned to his village. Like many others, he hopes the peace deal signed in Addis Ababa in late February will hold.

Crispin Mpigirwa is a WFP nutritionist, who works in the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where entire communities often have to abandon their homes to escape fighting. A Congolese national, with 15 years of experience in humanitarian work, Crispin is a key figure in WFP’s efforts to combat malnutrition in the camps for displaced people around Goma.

Nabintu’s husband was killed  by a gang of armed men last July. The mother of five tells how they came to their house in in Shabunda, South Kivu Province, in the middle of the night, forced their way inside and slaughtered him....

For years, Heal Africa, in North Kivu's provincial capital of Goma, has helped victims of sexual violence and children with HIV/AIDS. But when fresh conflict erupted, the non-profit opened its doors to the wounded as well. WFP is helping them recover through food assistance.

Violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than 900,000 people this year alone. But in parts of North Kivu province, some are returning home. In early December, WFP distributed food rations to more than 60,000 of these returnees in Nyiragongo Territory, north of the provicial capital, Goma.

The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has wrested children from their families and homes. Today, they count among the most vulnerable of the tens of thousands of displaced people in the region. Some have found refuge at the Don Bosco Center, a Catholic institution in Noth Kivu's provincial capital of Goma, where WFP is providing school meals.