The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) remains in the midst of a major humanitarian crisis, one of the most complex, deadly and prolonged ever documented.

Following years of economic and political decline, the war of 1998-2002 led to extreme violence, massive population displacement, widespread rape, and the collapse of public health services.

Despite the signing of a formal peace agreement in December 2002, renewed violence has once again put recent political and humanitarian gains in jeopardy and further escalation of the conflict could potentially destabilise the region beyond DR Congo’s own borders.

Since 2000, the International Rescue Committee has documented the humanitarian impact of war and conflict in DR Congo through a series of five mortality surveys. We estimate that 5.4 million excess deaths – over and above what would be expected in normal conditions in sub-Saharan Africa – have occurred between August 1998 and April 2007, making the crisis arguably the world’s deadliest since World War II.

Less than 10 percent of all deaths were due to violence, with most attributed to easily preventable and treatable conditions such as malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, the indirect but devastating public health effects of conflict.

The IRC urges the international community to:

• ensure that MONUC’s (the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo) strength is maintained with robust funding and that civilian protection remains its first priority;
• use diplomacy with the government of DR Congo and regional powers to ensure implementation of the January 2008 peace agreement in North Kivu;
• support security sector reform for the army and national police;
• provide funding for humanitarian programmes and fund projects at a level that is proportional to need, especially in essential sectors such as health, education, shelter, transportation and agriculture; and
• work with the government of DR Congo to support the development of strong and transparent institutions.

March 2007