By Jasmin Somers

The Sphere Handbook outlines the core humanitarian standards, as well as the minimum standards that should be attained in a humanitarian response. It includes both ethical considerations, as well as discusses issues surrounding healthcare quality, access and the social determinants of health. There are four overarching minimum standard themes:(1)

1. Water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion
2. Food security and nutrition
3. Shelter and settlement
4. Health

Any good humanitarian response should adequately, appropriately and ethically address these four themes, including in the international humanitarian response to the ongoing DRC crisis.

The DRC is facing a complex, acute humanitarian crisis with five key impacts; food insecurity, epidemics, population movement, protection issues and acute malnutrition. An estimated 19.6 million Congolese people will need humanitarian assistance in 2021.

However, the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan will only target 9.6 million people, accounting for only 49% of the estimated need. This plan has two main objectives to cover the multi-dimensional needs of the population:(2)

1. Cover vital needs of the people affected by crises to protect physical and mental integrity
2. Reduce their vulnerabilities and improve their living conditions

The first objective involves the implementation of a multisectoral response to support the entire 9.6 million target population. This involves covering their vital needs, including nutritional needs, protection, shelter, access to healthcare, water, education and essential goods, as well as limit the transmission of disease and adoption of negative survival strategies. The second objective will target 3.4 million vulnerable people with acute needs within the framework of the first objective strategy. It seeks to strengthen resilience through supporting livelihood restoration and community reintegration. Additionally, awareness campaigns for malnutrition, alongside the provision of water, hygiene and sanitation services are also included.(2)

Underpinning this strategy are the ethical principles of “do no harm”, accountability and strengthening community communication and engagement.(2) 

With large numbers of internally and externally displaced populations, it has caused mass population movement. Refugee settlements and camps in many regional host countries have exceeded capacity, meaning basic services are being stretched to their limit. As a result, the Refugee Response Plan looks to continue expanding their delivery of basic services and assistance programs, including health, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, infrastructure and education. However, this in turn makes regional countries more dependent upon humanitarian resistance, making self-reliance and independence more difficult to attain in the long-term.(3)

The main strategic objectives include:(3)

• Maintaining equal and unhindered access to asylum and international protection, while promoting the full enjoyment of rights for refugees and asylum-seekers
• Achieve the minimum standards in the provision of multi-sectoral assistance to refugees and host communities
• Foster economic self-reliance to reduce dependency on humanitarian aid and promote socio-economic growth, social cohesion and peaceful co-existence
• Promote policies and conditions that facilitate durable solutions

However, even though these strategies have been created that attempt to address, and even try to rectify, the situation in the DRC, these action plans do not always translate well into the real-world. This is due to the high complexity of the situation and having an acute lack of funding, along with media and diplomatic inattention. These factors have caused the DRC to fall into the criteria of suffering from a neglected crisis. The length of the crisis has caused donor fatigue coupled with dwindling funding and action, this has resulted in the situation to become more neglected and the allocation of resources elsewhere.(4) As such, even though the described strategies have taken a holistic outlook on the crisis, addressing each of the Sphere Minimum Standards, it does not appear that these standards will realistically be met any time soon.

Even with the annual strategic plans, the country remains as aid-dependent and vulnerable as they were about a decade ago. The humanitarian response is a ‘treading water’ approach causing long standing international action to be required. Unfortunately, this is not ideal and instead, there should be greater investment in transitional activities which supports the country's autonomy and looks to create durable solutions. Many of the humanitarian response strategies do not address the root causes or drivers of the crisis; however, this begs the question if it falls under the scope of humanitarian actors to do this. It is believed that instead humanitarian actors should provide unbiased support to the government to promote its own meaningful participation in reconciliation and peace efforts, which promotes the concept of self-autonomy. However, it is a question of whether the DRC government is currently in a position to do this ethically.(5)

There is still a long way to go to see the DRC manage and recover from this ongoing crisis, and unfortunately, the current humanitarian efforts are not adequate enough to achieve this anytime soon.

References

1. Sphere Association. The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. 4th ed. Geneva: Practical Action Publishers; 2018. Available from: https://spherestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/Sphere-Handbook-2018-EN.pdf
2. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Democratic Republic of Congo Humanitarian Response Plan 2021. 2021 Jan. Available from: https://hum-insight.info/plan/1026/ge/5922
3. United Nations Human Rights Council. The Democratic Republic of the Congo Regional Refugee Response Plan. Geneva; United Nations Human Rights Council. 2021. Available from:  https://reporting.unhcr.org/node/30829
4. Norwegian Refugee Council. The world’s most neglected displacement crisis 2020. 2021 May. Available from:  https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/world-s-most-neglected-displacement-crises-2020
5. White S. Project on internal displacement: Now what? The international response to internal displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brookings-LSE [Internet]. 2014 Dec. Available from: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-International-Response-to-Internal-Displacement-in-the-DRC-December-2014.pdf