Water, sanitation and hygiene are an urgent imperative in North Kivu, where ongoing conflict between armed groups and the Congolese military has led to an unprecedented rise in the number of people fleeing violence over the past two years.
For several months now, unsanitary conditions and a serious shortage of drinking water, which puts lives at risk, have continued to reach critical levels in several places where displaced people are sheltering around Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu, in the Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).
A (MSF) urges humanitarian aid organizations with expertise in water, sanitation and hygiene to act immediately and sustainably to resolve this catastrophic crisis and prevent potentially deadly disease outbreaks in these camps that continue to expand very quickly.
The continued conflict in North Kivu province between armed groups, including the M23, and the Congolese armed forces has led to a massive and unparalleled increase in the number of people fleeing their homes fleeing violence over the past two years. Population movements have not stopped due to the intensity of the fighting. Last September, an estimated 645,000 people remained sheltered in overcrowded IDP camps around Goma.
“Our teams continue to see first-hand the devastating effects of the terrible living conditions that displaced families are facing,” says MSF’s general coordinator in North Kivu, Natàlia Torrent.
Several months since the last large-scale influx of people, which occurred in February 2024, the Access to clean water, latrines and showers remains a huge daily challenge for displaced peopleespecially in improvised fields.
“When we arrived here, our biggest concern was how to get water – for drinking, for washing, for cooking, for bathing,” says Kahindo Salumu, who fled violence in the village where he lived earlier this year. He now lives with his seven children in Rugo camp, on the outskirts of Goma. “MSF has provided us with clean water, but it is not enough. I take three liters of water a day, but by nightfall we’ve used it all up to the last drop.”
In the last two years, MSF has been the main water supplier in the fields around Goma, investing very significantly in health infrastructure, including a solar-powered water supply systemin a water pumping station and in a fecal sludge treatment plant.
To respond to the latest influx of internally displaced people – and to avoid putting pressure on available resources – the medical-humanitarian organization has developed water and sanitation activities in seven of the places where people have most recently been have settled in the western areas on the outskirts of the city, where around 134,000 displaced people are sheltered in makeshift camps.
Despite this huge investment, data continues to show that there are alarming gaps in water and sanitation services. Last October, those displaced in the camps around Goma received an average of just 7.8 liters of water per person per day; in some camps they received only 2 to 4 liters per person. This is well below international emergency requirements, set at 20 liters per person per day.
“This extreme level of unsanitary conditions continues to be worrying, especially because it poses serious risks of spreading infectious diseases such as Mpox and waterborne diseases such as cholera”, emphasizes Natàlia Torrent.
In 2022 and 2023, multiple cholera epidemics spread through this area, and cases of Mpox have already been identified among people displaced in 2024. The DRC is currently experiencing a national outbreak of the disease.
And adding to the water shortage, the number of showers and latrines that are working is largely inadequate for people’s needs. Some makeshift camps have just one shower for 145 people. MSF teams report that in some of these locations 50 percent of latrines are damaged or half full.
The first latrines were installed as an emergency measure – which results in them typically filling up within a month, making them unsustainable in the long term.
“We don’t have enough sanitation facilities, including latrines,” explains Venasiya Rwata, who lives in Sam Sam camp with her seven children. “Sometimes we have no other option than to leave our area to relieve ourselves in more distant areas on the field”, he explains.
Having to seek sanitary facilities in other camps or further afield exposes women and children to crime and violence, including sexual violence, which is prevalent in the fields.
With no end in sight to the conflict, MSF water and sanitation teams focus their efforts on installing more robust emergency infrastructure, including more durable latrines. In recent months, MSF has built 2,334 latrines and 1,379 showers, and is also working to increase the capacity of water supply systems and fecal sludge treatment plants that are operated by other organizations.
Calls for mobilization made by MSF have been repeated, but the humanitarian response is hampered by insufficient coordination and funding from organizations operating in this region. That’s why, There are critical gaps in meeting humanitarian needs, including water and sanitation.
Faced with this prolonged crisis, MSF urges international donors, the Government and other groups and organizations to intensify efforts and take on the provision of water and activities within these camps. Being primarily a medical organization, MSF is currently operating at maximum capacity and needs to focus on meeting people’s medical needs.
“Immediate and sustainable action is needed, and now, to avoid a public health crisis”, concludes the general coordinator of MSF in North Kivu.
