Democratic Republic Of Congo - IOM has issued a joint letter with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) detailing enhanced cooperation to address the problem of protracted internal displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).      

The DRC is home to an estimated 2.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), whose needs include protection, shelter, health, sanitation and food.  There is a lack of reliable data on their numbers, location and places of origin, which is compounded by periodical outbreaks of conflict and insecurity.

The letter, in which both organizations re-emphasize their support for efforts already taken by the DRC government to address internal displacement within the country, provides guidance on how the two agencies will approach the problem. 

Work will begin with profiling of IDPs living in displacement sites in North Kivu province – home to an estimated 900,000 IDPs, mainly located around the provincial capital Goma. 

IOM is already in the early stages of implementing its displacement tracking matrix (DTM) in North Kivu. This tool records the numbers, location, places of origin and needs of the IDPs, focusing on the most vulnerable.  The DTM process will now be complemented by UNHCR’s profiling activities.           

Capacity building programmes in the areas of camp coordination and camp management (CCCM) and information management will also be organized to increase the capacity of government and other national actors to assume increased levels of responsibility for addressing the needs of IDPs.

The CCCM training has already begun and IOM and UNHCR have produced a CCCM capacity building strategy.  Trainings will take place through September of 2013 and focus on an overview of CCCM, protection, camp management principles and coordination between various stakeholders working in the region. 

IOM DRC has also begun bi-weekly site management meetings that bring relevant humanitarian actors together to coordinate activity within displacement sites throughout North Kivu province.

These programmes, bringing together national and international partners, will address longstanding gaps in the response to internal displacement in the DRC. They will also contribute to the broader humanitarian response and to the long-term development of the country, as laid out in IOM DRC’s  2013-2017 strategy.

For more information, please contact

Laurent de Boeck
IOM Kinshasa
Tel. +243 82 11 33 240
Email: Ldeboeck@iom.int