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DRC life-saving support

UNHCR continues to provide life-saving support to people living in the DRC. See what we're doing on the ground!



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Fatuma Kapuweli has a daily struggle to keep her children fed and out of danger.

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Photo Gallery Congo's River Refugees

More than 100,000 Congolese refugees have crossed the Oubangui River in search of safety since inter-ethnic violence erupted in their home areas in Equateur Province in late 2009.

The majority of the displaced camped in public buildings and some 100 sites along a 600-kilometre stretch of the river, including with host communities. The massive influx is stretching the meagre resources of the impoverished and remote region. Help is urgently needed for both the refugees and the host communities.

The relief operation is logistically complex and expensive because the region can only be reached by plane or boat. However, few boats are available and most are in need of repair. Fuel is expensive and difficult to procure.

All photos UNHCR/F. Noy/March 2010

An aerial view of refugee settlements along the Oubangui River a few kilometres south of Impfondo, Republic of the Congo. / UNHCR / F.NOYYoung refugees collect water from the Oubangui River in Yoi Na Yoi refugee site, north of Impfondo. / UNHCR / F.NOY In Betou, refugee families live side-by-side in an abandoned factory, many stretching their mosquito nets over broken machinery. / UNHCR / F.NOYA refugee washes her son outside the old factory in Betou where they currently live. / UNHCR / F.NOY / March 2010 A young mother and her child wait to be examined by staff from the aid group, Doctors of Africa, at the Mabelou site. / UNHCR / F.NOYA malnourished child is carried onto a boat on the Oubangui River for evacuation to a health clinic in Betou run by Doctors of Africa. / UNHCR / F.NOY After going into labour, a pregnant refugee is carried onto a boat for the 45-minute trip to a mobile health clinic in Betou. / UNHCR / F.NOYRefugees live in huts made out of leaves in Gouga village, close to the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic border. / UNHCR / F.NOY A refugee woman returns from the forest carrying a basketful of cassava root, which she will cook for her family. Dense jungle, bad roads and low river levels have made it difficult to get food to the remote areas where the Congolese refugees have settled. / F.NOY A baby sleeps under a mosquito net in a makeshift hut in Gouga village. / UNHCR / F.NOY Refugee mothers wash their children in a forest stream near Gouga village. A well for the village is under construction and will make washing easier. UNHCR / F.NOY This woman and hundreds of other refugees live on a school site in Betou. /UNHCR / F.NOY Refugee children on their way home from collecting water in the forest, Gouga village. / UNHCR / F.NOYWorkers unload aid items which will be taken by boat to remote villages along the Oubangui River and distributed to refugees. / UNHCR / F.NOYA boat man carries jerry cans of fuel to his boat on the Oubangui River. Fuel shortages and problematic logistical conditions have made it difficult to assist those sheltering along the river in the Republic of Congo. / UNHCR / F.NOY Workers verify registration of refugees before allowing them to collect aid items. / UNHCR / F.NOY A happy refugee woman carries aid items after a distribution in Betou. / UNHCR / F.NOY