The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Congo that begin in August 2016 is predicted to be Africa's mega-crisis in 2018 with only more people uprooted and forced to leave everything behind. Not only does this displacement put a strain on Uganda's economy, with more than 34,000 refugees only in 2018- but also it has lead an increase in slum living conditions. On top of that there is also a food crisis where due to the political instability no crops can be planted nor harvested so that most people barely eat one meal a day. The shortage has only made the price of food and other basic necessities go up, with Congo's currency losing 55% of it's value in 2017. This is yet another example of how political unrest in a certain country affects the economy of the entire region.
https://www.nrc.no/opinions-all/congo-will-be-africas-mega-crisis-in-2018/
3 comments:
I didn't realize the extent of this crisis. I wonder how much worse this crisis will go before the necessary amount of international involvement to donate and help Congo in this crucial time of need comes about and if it will ever come about.
I think you're right about realizing how instability in one country can affect the entire region, but I'd like to point out that this article deals solely with internally displaced persons, not asylum seekers crossing borders -- which is sad, because I think presenting the effect Congolese refugees have on Angola and Zambia (neighboring states). It's definitly worth looking at how (for example) the crisis in Syria has seriously hurt Turkey's economy, and that has spilled into the EU, or how in Asia the crisis in Myanmar has left Rohingya people having to be taken care of in Bangladesh. Also, I disagree a bit with Joelle, because I don't think donating is really very helpful in these types of situations -- rather supporting international organizations that can support the local governments in rebuilding themselves rather than international people "helping" a situation they might not actually know much about.
I agree that supporting organizations to reestablish a government is essential especially from an economic point of view because until the government is stable, it is difficult to establish stability in the entire region and the vicious cycle will continue. But from a humanitarian point of view, I definitely have to agree with Joelle that donating in any way is so important because there are people dying and have close to zero access to basic human rights, so as important as it is to help support the reestablishment of the government, it is just as important to ensure that refugees who have had to leave everything behind get the international support that they have the right to as human beings.
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