HEALTH     The IRC’s health teams work in conjunction with the local Ministry of Health to support more than 190 health facilities in 11 conflict-affected health zones, representing over 1 million inhabitants. In order to help local health systems function again, the IRC constructs and renovates health centers and hospitals, supplies health facilities with equipment, drugs, and vaccines, and trains health workers and managers. In a further effort to reduce mortality and morbidity, the IRC supports communities to protect, build and rehabilitate wells. Finally, the IRC carries out community education campaigns that promote good health, hygiene, water, and sanitation practices.

The IRC’s work in the health sphere is directed particularly at improving health care for women and children. The IRC collaborates with the local Ministry of Health, traditional midwives, and community members to improve obstetric care for 140,000 local women. The IRC’s large-scale child survival program—which benefits 30,000 women of child-bearing age and 24,000 children under the age of five—strives to control malaria and diarrheal diseases, reduce respiratory infections, prevent malnutrition, and increase and improve the quality of immunizations.

The IRC has played a key role in documenting the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the DRC through a series of four mortality surveys. The latest survey, conducted in 2004, is among the largest ever conducted in a conflict zone and was recently published in the British medical journal, The Lancet. The survey found that more than 3.9 million people have died as a result of the conflict since it began in 1997. Stunningly, nearly three years after the signing of a formal peace agreement, thirty-eight thousand people continue to die each month as a result of the conflict, contributing to a mortality rate one third higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa.

CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT     The IRC’s civil society development program builds the capacity of local organizations so that they can address and advocate for the needs of their communities. The program awards sub-grants to local partner organizations working in a variety of fields, such as water and sanitation, civic education, advocacy, food security, and psychosocial support to war orphans. The IRC strengthens the managerial and institutional capacities of its 20 local partners by providing training on project design and management, finance, human rights, and community participation.
Since September 2002, the IRC has supported local women’s groups, community organizations, and NGOs in North and South Kivu in providing key services to survivors of sexual violence. The IRC’s 42 local partners offer primary health care, HIV/AIDS and STI testing, gynecological surgery, counseling, and family mediation to survivors. Other local partners assist women’s groups composed of survivors and other vulnerable women to engage in income-generating activities. Finally, the IRC works with local legal organizations that help survivors prosecute their perpetrators and advocate for changes in the legal system. In collaboration with its partners, the IRC has assisted 30,000 gender-based violence survivors and their families while concurrently building the capacity of local organizations.

CHILD SOLDIERS     The IRC is the lead agency for the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers in Orientale Province. After children are disarmed and demobilized from armed groups, the IRC places them in foster care while tracing teams locate their families. Once the child’s family is found, the IRC reunites the child with his/her parents or relatives and provides follow-up services to ensure that the transition proceeds smoothly. In an effort to solidify reintegration and prevent re-recruitment, the IRC helps former child soldiers restart formal education or learn an income-generating skill. To complement this process, the IRC supports local partners engaged in child protection and raises awareness within communities so that they are prepared to receive and reintegrate returning child soldiers. The IRC has reunited nearly 1300 children with their families since the program began in 2003.
 
EMERGENCY RESPONSE     Civilians continue to be displaced, violently harmed, and isolated by conflict in eastern DRC. The IRC plays a leading role in providing immediate assistance to displaced populations and returnees in South Kivu. The IRC’s rapid response team continually assesses the emergency humanitarian situation in the province. When an outbreak of violence occurs, the team responds within 48 hours, distributing food and other essential items to newly displaced populations. The team also provides emergency health care, shelter, and water and sanitation facilities to IDP populations, their host communities, and returnees. Finally, the rapid response team provides timely treatment and reinforces vaccination programs in an effort to stem epidemics, illness, and malnutrition amongst the region’s conflict-affected children.

LIVELIHOODS     The IRC recently launched a new program in Equateur and South Kivu provinces to increase children’s access to primary education. The program provides economic opportunities to parents so that they can afford to send their children to school.