Skip to main content
European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
  • 8 August 2024

DRC: “Those in my former situation, they can only endure, it's not easy to survive.”

Assisting the most vulnerable population in the eastern DRC

In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, conflicts and epidemics have forced millions to leave their homes and become internally displaced – or seek refuge in neighbouring countries. 

Humanitarian needs are acute, with food, shelter, sanitation, and clothing topping the list. 

With support from the European Union, our partner HEKS-EPER is delivering this much-needed assistance to the vulnerable populations of the eastern DRC.

HEKS-EPER provides cash assistance to displaced households, as well as essential non-food items – for example, wash, sanitary and hygiene kits.

“With the help of HEKS/EPER, we were able to buy food, clothes and pay our medical bills. I was also able to buy a goat for breeding. Before the war, that's what I used to do, but I lost all my livestock. Today, I'm hoping to get back into the breeding,” said a beneficiary in Rushuru, eastern DRC. 

“Thanks to the soaps received from the distribution, we can do our laundry and save money for our other expenses,” he adds. 

He is sympathetic to those who have not received help yet: "For those in my former situation, they can only endure, it's not easy to survive."

An aid worker sitting down while registering papers of a local into a notebook
HEKS/EPER distributed 5,284 Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) kits to 40,131 people in Sebele, Fizi territory, South Kivu province.
© HEKS-EPER, 2024 (photographer: Rudy Kumvuidi Nkombo)
Distribution point of the kits. Lots of jerry cans, buckets and an aid worker sitting underneath an umbrella.
The kits included a 20-liter bucket, a 20-liter jerry can, a bucket for personal hygiene, soap, reusable sanitary pads, and 3 pairs of women's underwear.
© HEKS-EPER, 2024 (photographer: Espoir Bisimwa)
Aid workers assembling parts of the kit, outside a stone building.
Other essential household needs were met by assistance from humanitarian partners ACTED and CONCERN.
© HEKS-EPER, 2024 (photographer: Rudy Kumvuidi Nkombo)
An aid worker assembling kits outside a stone building.
81% of beneficiaries were displaced households.
© HEKS-EPER, 2024 (photographer: Rudy Kumvuidi Nkombo)
  • Story and photos by HEKS/EPER

    Publication date: 08/08/2024