Democratic Republic of the Congo
Posted on January 7, 2009
Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) escalated steadily after a ceasefire agreement between Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People and the Congolese government broke down in August 2008. It is estimated that over 1.8 million people have been affected, many of which have fled into other regions in DRC or neighboring Uganda.
To ease the humanitarian crisis, the UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership funded WFP’s ICT (Information Communications Technology) team to reestablish communications for aid agencies in North and South Kivu provinces—areas marked by heavy fighting and large populations of displaced persons. In addition to providing communications for the delivery of food aid, the WFP team provided security communications and data services for aid agencies including UNHCR and UNICEF.
