Democratic Republic of Congo: Population Movements in Bas-Congo Situation Report No. 3 (Final)

Appeal No. 10/99 Period covered: April, 1999 - April, 2000 The objectives established for this project were realistic and attainable. However, the political and economic situation existing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the time had an unexpectedly large impact on programme implementation. On the financial side, the Congolese franc continued its downward spiralling, a factor which had an enormous impact on buying power. The political and security situation in Bas-Congo resulted in the Delegate mission being limited from six to four months.

Despite the numerous constraints, the Red Cross volunteers, supported by the Federation's relief delegate and the village communities in Bas-Congo, successfully met most of the planned objectives.

The context

The Bas-Congo Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was invaded by rebel forces in August 1998 and they controlled the province until October of the same year when the united forces of the Government of the DRC and those provided by the Angolan Government were able to oust the rebels from the region. During the two months of rebel control, villages were looted, and houses, schools, water installations and health centres were damaged or destroyed. In addition to the ravages of the war, the villages met with a new influx of Angolans and Congolese fleeing the escalated fighting in northern Angola and in the Republic of Congo and seeking refuge in the villages across the border in Bas-Congo. Already extremely scarce resources had to be shared with the newcomers. The number of refugees continued to grow and it was estimated that approximately 55,000 had fled to DRC between January and March of 1999 when the Appeal was launched. This 55,000 joined the already 44,000 established in Bas-Congo since before the beginning of the year. In order to ease the strain on the villages hosting a large number of refugees, the Federation launched an appeal in the form of agricultural support, health care as well as construction and/or repair of schools and dispensaries to be implemented over a six month period. The Appeal also included a water sanitation component. The beneficiaries of the Appeal were both the refugee population and the host population of the targeted villages.

The criteria established for the villages targeted for assistance were: villages that had had their crops and planting seeds looted; villages whose schools and health facilities had been damaged or destroyed; villages who had no access to health care; villages with no safe water supply; and villages having a high percentage of newly arrived refugees. Contact was made with the various Government authorities in to explain the project and to get their input as to the villages most impacted by the war and the arrival of the latest influx of refugees. An assessment team composed of International Federation local employees from the Matadi office, a Relief Delegate, members of the Bas- Congo Provincial Committee of the Red Cross, members of the local Red Cross and government officials where appropriate, then spent several days visiting villages identified as well as other villages in the districts of Bas-fleuve, Cataractes and Lukaya.

The Appeal was launched with a six month implementation time frame and with a budget based on the construction or rehabilitation of 8 dispensaries, the construction or rehabilitation of 6 schools, the distribution of seeds and agricultural tools for 5000 families and the rehabilitation of water supplies for eight villages.

Neither the time frame nor the initial targets were able to be met. Immediately after the launching of the Appeal, the Democratic Republic of Congo went into an economic decline that continues today. The Government reacted by outlawing the used of foreign currency in the country and fixing an official exchange rate of 3 Congolese francs to 1 USD. This was later raised to 4.5 CF's to 1 USD and this official rate remained in place for the rest of 1999. However, the unofficial rate or the real purchasing rate climbed steadily and by the end of the year was at approximately 30 CF's to 1 USD. Therefore, our initial estimates of costs of materials and labour were no longer valid and had, in fact, steadily increased from double to triple and by the end of the year the cost had quadrupled. The other major difficulty was also related to the economic crisis and resulted in great difficulty in obtaining the materials necessary for construction of the dispensaries and the purchase of the necessary seeds became a major challenge since the Government itself was buying up almost all the available seeds.

Despite these difficulties, more positively identified as challenges, the end result of the project should be termed successful. Red Cross/Red Crescent action

OBJECTIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS

Objective No. 1

To ensure the long-term food security for 5,000 families by providing necessary agricultural tools and seeds.

Achievement

Under the agricultural component of the project initial funding was available for 3,000 families. Following the assessment visits, thirty-five villages were identified as having lost the totality of their crops as well as planting seeds. Hoes and machetes were distributed to the 3,013 families in August in preparation for the first planting season of the year which is in October. In late September these same families received the seeds permitting them to go ahead with the planting. The seeds that the project finally managed to obtain were of the highest quality and, where crops came to maturity over the next few months, the result was excellent. The manioc has a two year growing period but is also assessed as being of very high quality. In addition to distributing to the villages listed below, seeds and tools were distributed to 4 local Red Cross committees as a income generating project to support the new Red Cross dispensaries.

In addition to the hoes and machetes distributed to each family, 500 watering cans were purchased and each village received a number of these based on population size. They were given to the village chief for use by the total population.

Funding was later received from DANIDA for the distribution of seeds and agricultural tools for another 2,000 families thus completing the original objective of 5,000 families. Due to the unavailability of seeds and machetes, it was decided that this distribution would be postponed until March, 2000 in time for the April planting season. Hoes, machetes and seeds have been distributed to 2,000 families in the district.

Constraints

The logistics of the distribution of the manioc was particularly challenging. Due to the volume of the seedlings the cost of renting sufficient trucks to complete the distribution in a short period of time would have been prohibitive. Therefore, although it was necessary to rent two trucks to complete some distributions, the Federation truck was the major distribution vehicle resulting in the whole project being slowed down while completing the agricultural section.

The unavailability of seeds for the distribution to the last 2,000 families has resulted in a delay in the meeting of this objective. Objective No 2

To ensure adequate health care in an additional eight villages presently without access to medical services.

Achievements

A total of five new Red Cross dispensaries are now operating in the Cataractes District of Bas-Congo. Three are newly constructed dispensaries while the other two were buildings that had housed a dispensary in the past but had become inactive due to lack of funding. These two buildings were renovated and made operational. The construction and renovation of the dispensaries was done by the local population of all the villages concerned, with the construction material being provided by the project. A sixth dispensary had been planned but there was a delay in getting approval from the health authorities. Approval was finally obtained in late December. Should funding become available support will be given to the Red Cross Branch in the area to complete the construction of their dispensary.

Each dispensary is located in a village central to a number of other villages without health services allowing for a broader coverage of the population. Two nurses were hired for each dispensary, medicines and medical supplies were provided and most important, committees were established for the management and administration of each dispensary. Members of the committees include people from different sectors of the community, a representative from each village serviced by the dispensary and a majority of Red Cross members. Training in the administration of a dispensary, including the preparation of budgets and the corresponding revenue requirement has commenced and will carry through until all committees have been trained. Follow-up after the training is deemed essential. As an aside and not related to this project, the same procedure is being followed with the other 13 dispensaries supervised by the Federation/Red Cross in Bas-Congo.

Constraints The following are the very real constraints encountered during the identification of villages and construction of dispensaries:

 Difficulty in some cases of getting approval from the health authorities to construct a dispensary in certain villages;  Rapid inflation within the country going from 3 Congolese francs per one USD at the beginning of the project to 30 CF's to 1 USD by the end of December while the official rate went no higher than 4.5 and use of foreign currency was strictly forbidden.  For several weeks the production of cement was halted and cement became unavailable.  The rainy season and the extremely poor road conditions meant some of the villages became inaccessible for days at a time.  Difficulty in obtaining fuel for the vehicles resulted in more delays in getting to the villages.

Objective No 3 To provide a safe water supply, proper sanitation and training on disease prevention and good health practices to an additional 80,000 villagers, both refugees and Congolese.

Achievement

An assessment of the water supply and sanitation in sixteen villages was carried out with an identification of the work required to ensure a safe water supply and proper sanitation. Funding for the water-sanitation project was pledged from the Belgium Government through the Belgium Red Cross and of these sixteen, eight were retained for the project.

The nurses in all eighteen dispensaries (the five from this project and the thirteen original dispensaries) have been trained in community health and a refresher course was held for the nurses from the thirteen dispensaries in October. Similar training will be held for the nurses of the new dispensaries. In addition, the watsan section includes a training component, still to be implemented, on proper sanitation, disease prevention and good health practices.

Constraints

A representative from the Belgian Red Cross was in for a week with the objective of visiting the villages targeted for the watsan component of the project. Unfortunately he was here during a period when authorisations to travel outside Kinshasa were being refused by the Government authorities and therefore left Kinshasa without effecting the mission. However, the door remains open for this project and it is hoped that within the next month it can be implemented.

Objective No 5

To support the Red Cross Provincial Committee of Bas-Congo in establishing local branches in all targeted villages.

Achievement

Red Cross Committees have been established in the five villages where the new dispensaries are located as well as committees for the management and administration of the dispensaries. Representatives of the Red Cross Provincial Committee of Bas-Congo have met with the new Red Cross committees and have assisted them in setting up the committees. Training has also begun and continues for the dispensary committees in the administration and management of dispensaries.

Constraints The only constraint was the poor road conditions which results in cancellation of planned visits every once in a while.

Contributions

See Annex 1 for details.

Bekele Geleta Director Africa Department

Peter Rees-Gildea Director Operations Funding and Reporting Department