BACKGROUND

The second largest country in Africa, The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  is located in central sub-Saharan Africa, within the Congo Basin. An equatorial country, one-third of DRC’s land lies to the north, and two-thirds of the land lies to the south of the equator. In general, temperatures and humidity are high but due to its size and position, it has a variable climate. It is hot and humid in the north and west, while cooler and drier in the east and centre of the country. The majority of the land area is located in the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest. Although DRC has extensive rich natural resources, it has been affected by ongoing conflict and displacement issues for decades which in turn impact the livelihoods and vulnerability of a large percentage of the population. WFP estimates that 27 million people are acutely food insecure and in need of assistance to meet their food security needs.

DRC is affected by a number of climate-related hazards including floods, epidemics, disease outbreaks, drought, volcanic activity, storms, and landslides. Projections of climate change are expected to have an impact on the agricultural, energy, water resource, and human health sectors. Additionally, existing vulnerabilities, political instability, high rates of poverty, food insecurity, and conflict are likely to be exacerbated by climate variability in the future.

INFORM RISK INDEX (2022)    

Hazard and exposure: 7.4  |  Vulnerability: 7.4  |  Lack of coping capacity: 8.1 |  Total: 7.6 (very high)  |  Rank: 7

HAZARDS COVERED BY ANTICIPATION    

Population movement | Disease outbreak

EXPERIENCE ON ANTICIPATION 

• The Start Network has issued 76 alerts in DRC, of which 37 have been activated. In 2022 alone, there have been Start financing allocated to alerts of conflict, flooding, and disease outbreaks.
• The DRC Red Cross, with support from the French Red Cross, has been developing Early Action Protocols (EAPs) to respond to triggers of disease outbreaks and population movement.