Funding for Democratic Republic of Congo

The Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) has been activated for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by International Development Minister Alasdair Allan.

More than £293,000 will be available for projects to provide immediate aid to people affected by the escalating crisis in the DRC.

This is the fourth activation of the £1 million Scottish Government fund since it was launched last year.

Dr Allan said:

“For decades, the DRC has struggled with one of the world’s most relentless emergencies. Escalating conflict within the country has resulted in 4.3 million people displaced from their homes, 9.9 million considered food insecure and two million malnourished children.

“We want Scotland to be a good global citizen and our Humanitarian Emergency Fund aims to provide emergency life-saving aid to those in most need.

“We also recognise the humanitarian role neighbouring countries like Zambia have played in receiving increasing numbers of new arrivals of refugees from the DRC. This situation, and the response of the Zambian authorities, is an issue I will be keen to learn more about during my upcoming visit to Zambia.”

Background

The Humanitarian Emergency Fund provides immediate, life-saving aid in the aftermath of a crisis. The previous activations of the HEF,  since it was created in April 2017, were:

• July 2017: £235,000 for the East Africa food crisis (South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya), adding to the £200,000 donation to DEC Appeal in March 2017
• August 2017: £300,000 for the South Asia Floods (India, Bangladesh, Nepal)
• September 2017: £120,000 for the Burma Rohingya refugees crisis

The HEF panel is made up of eight humanitarian aid organisations who make recommendations on how it should be distributed: Tearfund, Oxfam, Save the Children, British Red Cross, SCIAF, Mercy Corps, Mission Aviation Fellowship, and Christian Aid.

Once the HEF is activated, the secretariat issues a call for proposals from panel members, which are then assessed by a Project Review Committee. The panel then makes the final recommendations to the Scottish Government.