Refugees and Internally Displaced People in the Democratic Republic of Congo 

Overall objectives

The main objective of this activity is to produce socio-economic data and evidence on refugees and IDPs through their inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) 2024 Household Living Conditions Survey (the Enquête sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages or ECVM). 

This data will enable the government to update the multidimensional poverty profile, monitor and evaluate the national strategy for growth and employment, and assess the effects on household living conditions of macro-economic programs and policies implemented in the country over the past few years.  

Activity description

This activity will include a representative sample of refugees and IDPs in the 2024 ECVM, delivering rich and fully comparable socio-economic data on these vulnerable population groups, providing opportunities for comparison of their socioeconomic conditions between them and host populations. As a nationally representative household survey that aims to collect data on living conditions of Congolese households, ECVM is one of the most comprehensive sources of statistical information for monitoring poverty levels, trends and related welfare issues as well as reporting on the progress towards achieving development plans and the SDGs.  

Like most nationally representative household surveys carried out in DRC, the ECVM sampling design is a classic two-stage stratified design. However, the ECVM sample is not designed in a way that can help derive statistically valid indicators from the data collected, and the questionnaire is not designed to identify these sub-populations. It is therefore important not only to ensure a representative sample of refugee and IDP households are included in the final ECVM sample but also include specific questions in the questionnaire to guide the identification of refugees and IDPs in line with EGRISS recommendations. 

Refugee sample 

To obtain the required number of refugees for deriving statistically relevant indicators nationally, a booster sample of 1,000 households of refugees will be added to the ECVM sample and distributed in line with the distribution of the total refugee population by camp status. 

IDP sample 

To cover the IDP population living in dedicated sites that are excluded from the ECVM sampling frame, a sample of about 500 households living in sites will be added to the ECVM sample, mainly in four provinces – Ituri, Nord Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Tanganyika. 

In summary, a total of 1,500 households will be added to the ECVM sample to enable the estimation of valid socio-economic indicators on refugees and IDPs.  In preparation for data collection, enumerators will be trained (including a special session on the identification questions based on EGRISS recommendations), households of refugees/IDPs identified through a listing exercise and pilot testing conducted. The main ECVM questionnaire will be revised to include questions to appropriately capture refugees and IDPs using EGRISS recommendations. 

Engagement with partners

The Institut National de la Statistique will be the main implementer of the survey in collaboration with WB, UNHCR offices in Kinshasa and in the fields. UNHCR, WB, INS will hold regular consultations through a special technical committee to provide technical oversight of the inclusion component including sampling coverage, questionnaire development, survey operations, and report tabulation and data analysis. Other key partners include the Ministère de l’Intérieur, Sécurité, Décentralisation et Affaires coutumières mainly through the Commission Nationale sur les Réfugiés (CNR), Action Humanitaire (AH), IOM, OCHA, and Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM). 

Background and Context

Over the past 30 years, armed conflicts, insecurity, social unrest and natural disasters have plunged the Democratic Republic of Congo into one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the world. As of December 2023, it is estimated that 6.5 million Congolese are internally displaced – amounting 6% of the country’s population. DRC thus has the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa and the third highest in the world. In addition, about 2.9 million Congolese are IDPs who have returned to their places of origin. The country also hosts some 500,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Most of the forcibly displaced live within local communities rather than camps, putting further pressure on their hosts, already facing extreme poverty with limited or no access to basic services, and without decent livelihood opportunities.  

DRC is one of the most data poor countries in the world, with the country having conducted his last general population and housing census about 40 years ago. Moreover, like in many countries around the world, forced displacement is not systematically and/or appropriately captured in official statistics. This is mainly due to the difficulty in reaching displaced populations such as refugees or IDPs during household surveys. Several reasons impede access to these populations: high mobility for those living among communities or residency in camps or hard-to-reach areas due to security concerns or logistical constraints. In addition, before the adoption of the international framework for refugee (IRRS) and IDP statistics (IRRS) developed by the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics (EGRISS), there was no international guidance to support National Statistics Offices (NSOs) such as the one in DRC to produce relevant data and statistics on refugee and IDPs in their routine data collection mechanisms such as household surveys and censuses.