Working with displaced people

Despite its vast potential wealth, the DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world. Years of conflict have created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

• 2.7 million people displaced
• An estimated 2.5 million killed as a consequence of the war, most from preventable diseases
• A critical lack of health care and education
• Malnutrition is widespread

Find out more about our emergency response in the DRC

How Oxfam is helping

We work with communities that are hosting tens of thousands of displaced people in the east of the country. Our focus is on providing clean water and sanitation facilities to minimise the spread of disease.

Find out more about our emergency response in the DRC

Learn more

Read more examples of our work in the Democratic Republic of Congo:

• Development

This programme is directly funded by Oxfam Australia, Oxfam Ireland, and SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Creating a better environment for learning

After two wars, 30 years of government neglect, and prolonged economic crisis, primary education in the DRC is limited and often non-existent, keeping future generations locked in poverty.

• Nearly 50 per cent of children do not attend school
• 75 per cent of those who do, drop out before their fifth year

How Oxfam is helping

Oxfam is working to improve the quality of basic education and increase school enrolment, especially among girls. We train teachers and have been refurbishing schools, making them rainproof and supplying them with desks.

Other development work

• Improving hospital facilities in the capital, Kinshasa
• Promoting good hygiene practices among displaced communities living in temporary shelters

Oxfam's work in the Democratic Republic of Congo in depth