2021 WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY - Taking Action to Better his Community and his Country despite the risks: The story of one humanitarian worker's challenges and calling in the DRC

This is the journey and story of one dedicated CARE DRC aid worker operating in a complex security context working to decrease cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and improve the living condition of affected populations in places such as Minembwe Health Zone, all while providing hope for a better future for his country and saving lives in the process.

The year 2021 is particularly difficult for the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the situation remains complex and prolonged in July 2021.  Humanitarian access, whether physical or in terms of security, remains a major constraint for field actors to reach the most vulnerable populations. Armed conflicts, epidemics, natural disasters, and the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 have significantly exacerbated the context of extreme lack of access to essential services for a large majority of the population, disrupting supply chains, access to markets, and humanitarian activities, all of which have hurt household coping mechanisms and resilience (although the majority of these households were already living in extreme poverty and had limited access to basic services). The political context and inclusive and good governance challenges increased insecurity and armed violence especially in the East (Ituri, North and South Kivu, and Tanganyika provinces), the transition from a slowly-exiting MONUSCO, extreme poverty and declining economic growth, inadequate basic infrastructure in the context of population growth and large natural capital reserves, and populations facing (degrading and unsustainable) environmental risks (including deadly natural disasters) remain key drivers and aspects of the current crisis in DRC.

Neville Mudekereza

"I accept to work in difficult and complex security contexts characterized by insecurity due to the presence of armed groups, community conflicts and physical inaccessibility due to lack of road infrastructure, etc. because it is my passion."

Neville Mudekereza is the project manager of the WASH & GBV project funded by Latter Day Saint Charities (LDSC) that is being implemented in Minembwe Health Zone in South Kivu Province. Born in 1972 in Lurhala Village in South Kivu, Neville is married and has two adorable daughters. Coming from a polygamous family where his father had five wives (with his mother being the third wife), Neville experienced first-hand the social inequality between men and women in terms of decision-making and inheritance in his own family: the women (mothers) had no say over their father and himself and his brothers, while his sisters were considered outsiders to the family because their perceived “destiny” was to get married and go live in the households of their husbands and their families. Thus, these women were deprived of key means and resources and were not educated on the same level as Neville and their brothers, for example. Hitting a woman was a normal thing in his community, as well. He also witnessed the general suffering of the community in which he grew up: access to primary health care was limited; newborn baby deliveries in his village were done at home and women frequently died; the referral of those who were ill was done on foot and often required sick individuals to travel more than 20km, and water sources were not developed, and the village suffered from water-borne diseases, chickenpox, and malaria due to lack of sanitation. Neville grew up knowing that he had to do something to help alleviate the suffering of communities like the one in which he grew up, his slogan being: “eternal life is living for others.”

As such, Neville would become a humanitarian by vocation and profession, with now having twenty years of experience in the humanitarian world, committed to working alongside vulnerable people affected by humanitarian crises to help save their lives and give them hope for a better future – because he believes that it is possible! He has always worked in difficult areas (including in highly insecure areas and under active attack) to provide humanitarian assistance. Most recently, in 2019, he almost lost his life in Djugu Territory in Ituri Province where he, his team, and other NGOs working in the area were targeted by a local self-defense militia, CODECO, which speculated that they gave away the position of their Lendu clan leader (in conflict with the Hema clan in the same area) who was assassinated the same day they wanted to carry out an attack. Thanks to the information he received in time from his watchman, Neville, and his team were able to evacuate the area and take refuge in the nearest territory of Mahagi on the border with Uganda that same night, taking on all the risks involved in traveling at night in an unstable zone. “I accept to work in difficult and complex security contexts characterized by insecurity due to the presence of armed groups, community conflicts, and physical inaccessibility due to lack of road infrastructure, etc. because it is my passion”,” he said.

"Often I have to walk miles (at least 20 km) to assist/reach the beneficiaries."

At present, Neville works Minembwe Health Zone, in the high plains or haut plateau of Fizi Territory in South Kivu, based there as a WASH & GBV Project Manager under CARE. This area is very much subject to intense clashes between different armed groups (e.g. Ngumino, Twirwaneho, Androide, Makanika, the Mai-Mai Bilonze bishambuke coalition, Yakutumba, and others), and the State armed forces (FARDC) is frequently involved in ongoing inter-community conflict ad clashes (involving the Banyamulenge, Bafuliro, Babembe, Banyindu, etc).

In implementing project activities in Minembwe, several challenges and constraints have been identified and faced by Neville and his team. For instance, the project was scheduled to begin in May 2020, but due to almost constant insecurity, activities not only fully began to take off in November 2020, but the project has been unable to complete activities on time given the need to remove the project team from the zone multiple times in the past several months. As such, the project is experiencing several extensions as during periods of crisis in Minembwe, the team must stop activities and evacuate the area. Physical access to the Minembwe Health Zone is only accessible by flight, due to insecurity and the collapse of the road linking Minembwe to more secure surrounding areas. Within Minembwe, movements are carried out via motorcycles and on foot: “I often have to walk for miles (at least 20 km) to assist/reach the beneficiaries,” said Neville. The humanitarian needs in the area also remain enormous (and are growing), falling beyond the capacity of the project as well as hindered by lack of consistent or secure physical access (logistics for road rehabilitation are lacking or inexistent, for instance). Needs related to health, WASH, and protection (specifically GBV mitigation and response) remain extreme, with the project not reaching all (or even a majority) of those in need. The cost of living is very high in this area. For example, a 25kg bag of cornflour, a staple food for many DRC costs about $35 to $45, while in Goma it costs around $12. There is a remarkable shortage of labor because most of the youth are recruited by armed groups, and those who are present are expensive to hire.

"We are following the project's closure activities from a distance because the security situation has deteriorated in the area.”

To maximize the achievement of the expected results and reach the objectives of the project, which consist of improving the living conditions of populations affected by humanitarian crises through improved access to drinking water, adequate hygiene and sanitation, and the reduction of GBV, CARE has relied on the principle of partnership and strong security guidance/monitoring. As such, CARE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with local partners for the implementation of awareness-raising activities; a local company for the construction of the works; and the main Health Zone Administration (or BCZ) to ensure operational monitoring and proper local authority coordination; and CARE staff committed to the other project activities, such as the capacity building of project stakeholders, as well as joint and continual project supervision and monitoring. For example, during the period when CARE staff evacuate from the zone to safer areas with CARE presence, such as Goma and Bukavu, activities continue as usual (as much as possible) in the field given these various networks of support and coordination within the project, and CARE carries out remote monitoring, as well, to ensure the effective and correct implementation of activities.

"The community we serve gives us direction on how the project is working and sends their complaints to us through the beneficiary committee that they elected themselves."

Beyond relying on and promoting partnership (localization) as a management mechanism and core component of project success, Neville has ensured that the project he manages complies with CARE’s core accountability and transparency principles. CARE advocates an active participatory community approach where beneficiaries are involved and engaged in all stages of design and implementation to maximize the impact of the project. Thus, Neville and his team have worked to engage local labor and provides wherever and whenever possible, recruited local partners to partner in activity implementation, and helped to set it up so that complaints and feedback are also managed directly by the communities (e.g. via beneficiary committees and representatives working with CARE). The accountability mechanism through the establishment of a complaint management mechanism and information management mechanism has been established and is operational (e.g. via a green line phone number, an anonymous email address, and on-site physical drop boxes/suggestion boxes as well as the ability to provide feedback and complaints through the beneficiary committee itself). The beneficiary communities have developed a resilience mechanism for managing the project's achievements despite the difficult situations they are experiencing due to insecurity, particularly the protection of (WASH & other) infrastructures, the reporting of cases of GBV through an improved and reinforced referral circuit, and the psycho-social support (PSS) and management of (GBV) survivors, especially at the community level.

"As soon as we arrived in the area, the population was very happy and hopeful for the return of peace and relief."

CARE is among the first humanitarian organizations to operate with direct intervention in the Minembwe Health Zone in the past several years. As soon as Neville and his team arrived in the area, the population was very happy and hopeful for the return of peace and relief, and this has been shown and solidified by their commitment and their accompaniment in the implementation of the project since the beginning. The current testimony from the target communities underlines the reduction of diarrheal diseases which were the second most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the area. Such testimony also highlights the decrease in cases of GBV through the improved systems for reporting and referring cases/survivors. Additionally, the successful testimony of the community is underlined by the breaking of the mores and customs of negative social norms that once weighed on the women of the community: for example, women were not allowed to denounce any act of GBV committed against themselves or on a third party (in particular a fellow woman), but today, with the support of CARE (and the efforts of committed humanitarians like Neville and his team), that silence is broken!

Written by Alice Bikuba, CARE DRC Reporting, and Communication Assistant.