Les routes de l’imPossible – Deployed in the field, Desk Officer (HEKS/EPER Romania). North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – April 2023
Les routes de l’imPossible – Deployed in the field, Desk Officer (HEKS/EPER Romania). North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – April 2023
Following the participation of HEKS/EPER Romania at the EHF 2023 (European Humanitarian Forum) which took place at the end of March 2023 in Brussels, our Humanitarian Aid Desk Officer travelled to the DRC for her field mission. The scope of the mission was to support the humanitarian aid delegation on site and monitor the activities financed by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) within the framework of the project: “Emergency multi-sectoral response to most vulnerable populations affected by conflict and outbreaks in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo “.
During her one-month mission in eastern DRC and more specifically in North Kivu, the Desk Officer travelled 145 km in two days on a thorny road from Goma to get to Pinga, the operational base and focal point for the coordination of humanitarian aid activities for the most vulnerable population.
Affected by a humanitarian crisis that has lasted for decades in the North of the Kivu province, many IDPs (Internal Displaced People) live in precarious conditions, their subsistence needs being constantly challenged.
In this very unstable security context, especially because of armed conflicts, HEKS/EPER forces itself and perseveres to provide an emergency response to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable people. Due to its “emergency” profile, HEKS/EPER is among very few INGOs (in some places even the only one) who have the operational capacity to intervene in hard-to-reach areas, not only because of the very volatile security context but also because of the deplorable state of the roads.
As part of the aforementioned project, which lasted eleven months until the end of April 2023, HEKS/EPER implemented through its experienced staff activities from several sectors such as: WASH (Water, sanitation, and hygiene), MPCA (Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance), DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction). Beneficiaries being at the heart of the implementation of the project, from the beginning to the end, the needs assessments have proven the urgent needs that our teams have been able to meet by: creating sources of drinking water, creating emergency latrines, distributing hygiene kits and NFIs, as well as cash distribution or organizing food fairs where access to the market is not possible.
During her field visit to Pinga (North Kivu), the Desk Officer had the opportunity to participate in the organization of a cash distribution activity which took place in mid-April 2023, before the end of the first phase of the project financed by ECHO. On this occasion, she was able to meet village chiefs and displaced chiefs in the village of Mpeti in North Kivu.
About 3,500 direct beneficiaries (and about 21,000 indirect beneficiaries) received an envelope of 90 USD as well as WASH kits. The beneficiaries, most of whom are IDP, are very grateful and satisfied with the help provided by HEKS/EPER.
Apart from the above-mentioned activities, HEKS/EPER intervenes thanks to another financing within the framework of the rehabilitation of roads (Cash for Work program), agriculture, and fish farming, thus providing significant support to the populations which can lead them towards economic and social stability.
Having joined the Desk Officer already on site, the HEKS/EPER Romania Logistics Referent was also deployed for a field mission with the aim of strengthening the logistics process and better understanding the field constraints and harmonizing the headquarters-field coordination work.
The second phase of the project begins on the 1st of May, 2023 for a period of 12 months, with the objective of reaching through its emergency humanitarian activities up to 800,000 beneficiaries and expanding the areas of intervention from North and South Kivu to the province of Maniema.
