The International Rescue Committee
Democratic Republic of Congo, September 2002
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been devastated by a complex war that has seen the world’s largest documented death toll since World War II. A mortality survey conducted by the IRC in 2002 found that between August 1998 and August 2002, approximately 3.3 million people died as a result of the ongoing conflict.
The IRC is committed to reducing this excess mortality through implementation of comprehensive emergency primary health care and water/sanitation programs. With headquarters in the capital Kinshasa and field offices throughout the east of the country, the IRC is one of the largest humanitarian actors in the DRC.
A young boy receives supplementary feeding three times a week at an IRC feeding centre in South Kivu.
Three young children in a hospital supported by the IRC in Kalemie, Katanga.- Children in an IRC supplementary feeding centre in South Kivu.
- Kabare Health Zone - Mbiza. An IRC worker carries out a nutritional Health survey. 900 children under the age of 5 are randomly selected; with 30 children being taken from 30 different villages. Children are weighed and measured and very basic nutritional tests are carried out. When the results of the survey are compiled the IRC will approach the WFP and food distribution will be done accordingly. It is important to ensure the entire family is fed correctly or the adults will eat food meant for the malnourished child.
- A young boy at a supplementary feeding centre run by the IRC.
- Kavumu Health Zone - The IRC support a local NGO called GISDG who work in the health centre on nutritional feeding projects and food security. They have use of several fields which they let families who have malnourished children farm. They encouraged good cultivation techniques and provide seeds that have been grown on a small area of the cultivated land.
- Kavumu Health Zone - The IRC support a local NGO called GISDG who work in the health centre on nutritional feeding projects and food security. They have use of several fields which they let families who have malnourished children farm. They encouraged good cultivation techniques and provide seeds that have been grown on a small area of the cultivated land.
- A young boy who is a beneficiary of the IRC"s water projects in Kalemie, Katanga.
- A man receives treatment for cholera in the CTC. The Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) was established by the IRC after cholera broke out in August. Lake Tanganyika is full of cholera; so when the electricity failed in Kalemie, the water pumps broke which meant people collected their drinking water from the lake and didn't boil it before use. Hundreds of people were admitted to the centre, where the IRC provided clean water and treatment.
- A young child with cholera is watched by his mother. The Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) was established by the IRC after cholera broke out in August. Lake Tanganyika is full of cholera; so when the electricity failed in Kalemie, the water pumps broke which meant people collected their drinking water from the lake and didn't boil it before use. Hundreds of people were admitted to the centre, where the IRC provided clean water and treatment.
- A young child sits at the feet of her mother who is receiving treatment in the CTC. The Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) was established by the IRC after cholera broke out in August. Lake Tanganyika is full of cholera; so when the electricity failed in Kalemie, the water pumps broke which meant people collected their drinking water from the lake and didn't boil it before use. Hundreds of people were admitted to the center, where the IRC provided clean water and treatment.
- The IRC sent out a doctor to carry out health assessments in the region. The local hospital in Kalemie has only one doctor, with hundreds of patients and no electricity. The water supply is maintained by the IRC. Many patients have been internally displaced by the fighting and have walked hundreds of miles to reach the hospital. Here the doctor hold the hand of a child suffering from severe malnutrition in Kalemie Hospital.
- Nigel, a doctor employed by IRC, and Jonas, a local nurse employed by IRC, discuss the progress of a woman's recovery from cholera in Kalemie Hospital, Katanga.
- Mosquito net education project- Kalwa, Katana Health Zone. Marlene is employed by IRC to run educational sessions about the correct use of mosquito nets. Here a group of indigent people are being taught how to prevent contracting malaria.
- Beneficiaries of IRC's programs in Bukavu, Eastern DRC.
- Kabunga Water Project, The IRC have been responsible for designing and implementing water supplies to many villages in the region. This young girl is collecting water from a water supply installed by the IRC.
- A graveyard by the river in Kalemie. The IRC conducted a mortality study in 2001 in the region to measure the impact of the war on the civilian population and is due to carry out another one shortly. Major findings included a conservative estimate that over 2.5 million people had so far died as a result of the war. It also established that violent deaths and "non-violent" deaths are inseparable. In eastern DRC, war means disease. In areas surveyed, the higher the number of victims of violent deaths, the higher the number of victims from infectious disease and malnutrition. Access to health care is severely limited in areas where the population is forced to flee unrest. In the surveys conducted, both endemic and epidemic illnesses were rampant, with major outbreaks of cholera, shigella, and meningitis
