The Telegraph, The Express and a number of regional media today report on the news that Minister Stewart has announced a new package of aid to meet emergency humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where escalating violence is causing millions to flee their homes.
With this new support, DFID will reach an additional 300,000 victims of the DRC conflict in the next year alone, with lifesaving aid such as food, healthcare and clean water, including support for over 133,000 children suffering from life-threatening Severe Acute Malnutrition. This £30 million is in addition to the £175m humanitarian funding for the next 5 years, announced by the International Development Secretary earlier this year.
The humanitarian crisis in the DRC is escalating at a shocking pace, with over 4 million people – equal to half the population of London – displaced, and 7.7 million people having no reliable access to their next meal. The UN has declared the most extreme level of humanitarian crisis in certain provinces of the DRC, currently only declared in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Since 2012, DFID has helped 2.5 million people in emergency situations with food, water and safety and plan to support a further 3 million people over the next 5 years.
Speaking to the Press Association, Minister Stewart, the Minister for Africa for the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: "The reason why there are people displaced from their homes and being killed and starving is because partly there have not been elections, partly because the government of DRC doesn't control the country.
"The Government's new package of support for the DRC - on top of £175 million of humanitarian funding already announced for the next five years - aims to address the urgent humanitarian needs.”