At least 400 people have died and 15,000 have been affected after floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall hit the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province. The last OCHA report reveals that thousands of homes have been destroyed, leaving 3,000 families homeless.
"After receiving the news, we promptly reached out to our local teams to get information about our programmes there. Fortunately, they reported that both our village and family strengthening programme were unaffected, and no harm was caused. Thus, we can confidently assure everyone that our programmes are safe and fully equipped with all the necessary resources to continue providing the best possible care for the children we support,"
Since 2021, SOS Children’s Villages in DRC has been actively involved in the reunification of children with their biological families – and one of the families reunited resided in the disaster-stricken area. “We have been able to make contact with them, and we are relieved to learn that both the children and their family are safe and have enough resources to meet their needs. We will offer them psychological support to help them cope with this tragedy,” says Mr. Tchoffouo.
The DRC is located within the River Congo Basin where flood disasters are frequently reported. In December, more than 120 people died in the capital, Kinshasa, in floods and landslides also caused by heavy rain. According to the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal, climate-related disasters “are likely to increase in frequency and magnitude” in the Central African country due to climate change.
SOS Children’s Villages started its work in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1987, and has been active since the early 1990’s in three locations: Bukavu, then Uvira and Kinshasa. In 2022, a total of 4,065 participants were supported by SOS Children’s Villages in the DRC, with 496 in alternative care and 3,569 in family strengthening.
