In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), several towns, including Kinshasa, have had their feet in water since the floods that killed more than 300 people in December 2023. With the death toll continuing to rise, the DRC government is calling for solidarity and emergency aid to save as many lives as possible.
Modeste Mutinga Mutushayi, the DR-Congolese Minister for Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and National Solidarity, launched an appeal for solidarity with the victims of the climatic disaster that struck Kinshasa on 13 December 2023. This was at the end of a meeting held on 5 January in the Congolese capital to take stock of the floods. About a month after the tragedy, the deadliest since 1960 according to the DRC’s Régie des voies fluviales, the death toll has passed the 300 mark.
The Régie des voies fluviales reports that the victims are counted in various districts of Kinshasa, as well as in several other towns in the DRC that border the Congo River. These towns are located in the provinces of Tshopo, Mongala, Équateur, Nord and Sud Ubangi, Kwilu, Mai-Ndombe, Kongo-Central, Kasaï, Kasaï-Central, Sud-Kivu and Tshuapa. The floods also destroyed more than 43,000 homes, 1,325 schools, health centres, public markets and roads. And the toll is still rising, according to the Niger authorities.
Financial and material assistance for an effective response on the ground
The floods in Kinshasa also affected more than 300,000 households, putting them at risk of water-borne diseases. The heavy rains that fell in the DRC’s largest city in December 2023 also destroyed the drinking water networks. It was this exceptional rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, that caused the Congo River to burst its banks, paralysing the lives of many inhabitants and economic activities in several towns in Central Africa’s most populous country.
Financial and material assistance is therefore needed more than ever in the DRC. “These resources will make it possible to save human lives that are still at risk in the country and to provide holistic care for communities affected by the floods”, stated Minister Modeste Mutinga Mutushayi on 5 January 2024. These resources should be mobilised from both the national and international communities to enable more effective deployment of teams on the ground following the disaster of 13 December 2023 in Kinshasa.
Inès Magoum
