Paper details
| Paper authors | Patrick Milabyo Kyamusugulwa |
| In panel on | Responding to humanitarian crises in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo and similar contexts |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Domestic fire has become one of major humanitarian crises in Sub Saharan Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This paper aims to share the experience of the DRC Humanitarian Observatory following up the effects and humanitarian assistance of such crisis in Bukavu city, the capital city of the South-Kivu Province from January to September 2025. Using a more qualitative data collection in different sites affected by repetitive domestic fire scenes, we identified in total over such period 59 cases of domestic fire, with at least 21 deaths, 2706 houses, 5 schools and 4 churches burnt, while at least 15, 945 community members were affected. In our analysis, we found that proper urbanization and enforcement of Congolese urban regulations and norms could make a difference. Domestic crisis is preventable; it is a manmade crisis rather than a natural crisis per se. These findings call for more attention on how ecological humanitarian crises occur and what to do at different levels by different actors varying from proper definition of regulations to their enforcement by state and non-state actors.
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