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Oxfam’s work with local communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has prompted the organisation to develop guidance for themselves and for others working in similar situations.

While the international donor community has been trying to engagewith DRC by partnering with the government to implement theNew Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, communities in DRC,especially those displaced in war-affected areas, continue to have tolook out for themselves.

Internal displacement has plagued the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for nearly 20 years. This article provides an overview of the scale and causes of displacement during this period as well as efforts to address the assistance and protection needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

After international agreements covering the return of refugees to Equateur and North Kivu, the challenge is to create local structures that can make the agreements work.

The development of synergies between different peace-keeping, humanitarian and recovery actors can improve theimpact and effectiveness of efforts to assist the people of theDemocratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries.

Protection is one of the components of the new UN -led cluster approach in emergency environments.1 Can the protection cluster mobilise the international community to protect civilians in areas where states are either unwilling or unable to do so? A pilot project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may offer guidance.

When women are banished from their communities following sexual assault, this rejection should be considered an act of forced migration by the administrators of truth commission reparations programmes.

For the vast majority of those affected by conflict, displacementis often seen as the only option in an attempt to find safety. Theprovision of some basic assistance in places to which people fleemakes this process slightly easier but in the absence of state-ledprotection, multiple displacement has become a defining feature ofthe Kivu conflict. This has implications for both the humanitarian andthe development response.

There has been a worrying tendency for the international communityto ignore questions of state capacity when enacting repatriations.Governance and the rule of law should be vital considerations inattempts to deal with forced migration in fragile states such as DRC.

As well as suffering the obvious side-effects such as missing parentalaffection and guidance, unaccompanied displaced youth also sufferfrom being stigmatised by some members of the host communities.

The sexual violence laws introduced in DRC in 2006 have had only limited impact. A much louder condemnation of rape and a far more proactive approach to prevention are urgently needed.

Forced migration is not new to DRC but its extent and its consequences are still shocking. Good governance and research must play a stronger role if life is to improve for the citizens of DRC.

Donor engagement in DRC is more important than ever – but donors need to reassess their strategies.

Local organisations in Bandundu province located in western DRC are struggling to meet the needs of displaced persons in the absence of government or international assistance.

While the crisis in the Kivus has been a focus of action andadvocacy by the international community for decades, furtherconflicts characterised by massive internal and cross-borderdisplacements have been proliferating in all four corners of theDemocratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Current assessment tools and intervention strategies are based mainly on experience of camp-like situations; what is needed are innovative responses to address problems specific to open settings.

While service provision for survivors of sexual violence is the top priority, protection for women and girls can also be improved in DRC.

Addressing the fate of children who are recruited into armed conflicts is not as simple as demanding their exclusion from those conflicts.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) combines its protection and assistance activities and focuses on ‘priority zones’ where armed actors (the national army or armed opposition groups) are present.

The UN integrated mission in DRC and the piloting of humanitarian reform there have been necessarily innovative in a challenging context.

Durable returns of IDPs and refugees into some of the most densely populated areas in eastern DRC are never going to be a simple exercise.

Unmanaged resettlement of IDPs in eastern DRC might threaten an already fragile security situation.

The conflict in eastern Congo has been the most deadly one since the second World War, and its social consequences have been disastrous. Solutions to the conflict – which has its roots in politics, in demographics and in economics – must look to the long term.

Recent years have seen the introduction of new initiatives to promote safe access to appropriate cooking fuel in humanitarian settings. Congolese NGOs are active in promoting these initiatives and urging greater international focus on the issues at stake.

Misunderstanding of the nature of civil society in the Kivus and exclusion of grassroots representatives are implicated in the failure of the peace processes in DRC.

Local protection committees in North and South Kivu are tackling – with some success – a range of protection challenges.Since June 2010, Mukungu1 village in Kalehe, South Kivu, has welcomed 1,150 displaced households fleeing FDLR2 attacks during military operations in the area. A battalion of the national army arrived recently; they have set up checkpoints demanding a fee, do not speak any local language and have moved in with local families unasked. Forced labour and arbitrary arrests are widespread. Meanwhile, locals cannot farm fields near the forest as FDLR soldiers rape women who try – and have killed men who accompany them. The local community takes in IDPs but they warn that resources are limited.

The cascade training model has brought clinical training closer to the areas in DRC most in need of skilled staff to serve conflict-affected women experiencing complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

Since independence, violent conflicts in eastern DRC have been linked to access to land, affirmation of ethnic identities and competition for political control.

Parties to the protracted Congolese conflict have long promoted fear of ‘the other’ and a thirst for revenge; these attitudes must be addressed if peace is to have a chance.

In preparing for a post-conflict DRC, we should be more aware of young people’s aspirations, the opportunities open to them, and the challenges they face in building a decent life.

Congolese women are energetically engaged in peacebuilding, both in DRC and abroad.Their voices – inspired by different experiences and presenting different perspectives – deserve greater recognition.

A survey conducted by UNHCR in 2009 in IDP camps in North Kivu shows that access to land is the second factor after security which prevents people from returning to their zone of origin.

Research in Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Liberia has highlighted worrying neglect of HIV issues in the aftermath of conflict and displacement.

Effective provision of aid and protection for those displaced in eastern DRC requires reliable data – which the new Data Centre in North Kivu is helping to provide.

Despite successful elections in late 2006 and an overall increase in the level of stability, over a million people remain displaced in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The situation is particularly worrying in North Kivu where over a hundred thousand people have been displaced in recent months.

Tackling sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will require greater resources and coordination. The number of attacks continues to increase and perpetrators go unpunished.

Signs on the outskirts of the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) welcome visitors to ‘the city of peace’. Lubumbashi has a reputation as a haven of tolerance in a violent nation but how are displaced people treated?

Forced migration creates special challenges to collecting data andmonitoring responses in fragile states where infrastructure andsystems are weak or non-existent.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the most inhospitable, insecure and operationally complex countries of theworld in which to deliver humanitarian relief.

Despite related cultural practices and a shared language, IDP girls inDRC are finding it difficult to be accepted by local youth.

While North Kivu is still mired in the troubles of yesterday and today, the Administration is actively planning for the creation of a better future.

There is an increasing number of people who are being evicted from DRC’s ‘protected areas’ both by the government and by international conservation organisations.

Cash vouchers offer flexibility, enabling payment for school fees as well as for basic necessities. They also empower people who, in displacement, have been deprived of choice.

A published Adelphi Paper examines the international responses to the ethnic conflict in Burundi and Rwanda from 1993-97 and its overspill into neighbouring Zaire. This extract provides details of four concrete proposals.