Statement on United Nations and Humanitarian Community Making Progress in Scaling Up Aid to People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

In response to the deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the previous year, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee activated a Level 3 response on 20 October 2017, with a focus on the Kasais, Tanganyika and South Kivu provinces.

This has been effective in mobilizing international capacity to scale up humanitarian support. Since the L3 activation, over 1.1 million people have been successfully reached with life-saving assistance in the Kasais, Tanganyika and the Kivus. The benchmarks established on 20 October 2017 to measure the L3 scale-up have largely been met. The L3 status will accordingly be de-activated on 20 April 2018.

Given that the single most critical issue for the humanitarian response is funding, it is vital that the focus now be on raising the required funds to reach people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance across the DRC. The 2018 United Nations humanitarian appeal requires US$1.7 billion.

The United Nations continues to engage closely with Government counterparts on the humanitarian situation in the DRC. I look forward to continued, close coordination with the authorities as we continue to work to support millions of people across the country.