Concern Worldwide US Receives Funding Secured by Project Resource Optimization (PRO) to Provide Lifesaving Water Access and Emergency Cash Assistance in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
$1.8 million investment will provide clean water and emergency cash assistance to 40,000 people facing one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises.
Concern Worldwide US announced a new $1.8 million project today to provide access to safe water and emergency cash assistance for families affected by displacement and conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cholera outbreaks and malnutrition have intensified amid ongoing conflict and a severe gap in humanitarian funding. Through the project, Concern will rehabilitate water sources and provide cash transfers in Masisi Territory, delivering improved water access to 40,000 people and emergency cash assistance to 28,800 people. Many of these households have had to repeatedly flee their homes to avoid violent conflict, while others live in host communities that were already facing challenges ensuring access to basic services even before recent population influxes.
“Humanitarian crises do not pause when funding disappears. This investment demonstrates the power of sustained, flexible support to protect progress already made and quickly scale up lifesaving services when communities need them most,” said Colleen Kelly, CEO of Concern Worldwide US. “By building on Concern’s existing presence, assessments, and relationships in North Kivu, this funding will translate quickly into clean water and emergency cash for families facing or affected by conflict, displacement, hunger, and disease.”
Building on extensive assessments and many years of deep community ties in Masisi territory, Concern will maintain a flexible approach as populations move, and humanitarian needs shift within the territory to ensure we meet the needs of the population.
“The global downturn in humanitarian funding during the last few years has come at a time when many communities have needed it the most. As one of the few remaining, we’ve seen the number of humanitarian programs and actors diminish in Masisi Territory and are delighted to be able to provide such critical and lifesaving support to a community deeply affected by waves of conflict,” said David Jones, Concern DRC Country Director. “With the arrival of the 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC, it is even more critical to provide water access to meet daily household needs and help protect families from spread of the outbreak, and to give the freedom provided by multi-purpose cash to meet people’s most urgent and essential needs as they see them.”
Notes to the Editor
Funding was secured by Project Resource Optimization (PRO) through its Urgent and Vetted Portfolio.
About Project Resource Optimization
Project Resource Optimization (PRO) uses rigorous analysis, deep expertise and robust networks to help philanthropists identify and fund high-impact programs that need urgent support to sustain life-saving work.
About Concern Worldwide US
Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization working to end extreme poverty in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Since 1994, Concern has worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, responding to the impacts of the country’s decades-long humanitarian crisis through programs focused on livelihoods, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
