Rapid Response to Population Movement (RRMP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Rapid Response to Population Movement – RRMP – is a program to provide large-scale assistance in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, child protection, education and non-food items to recently displaced persons and returned populations, host families and the most vulnerable in areas of DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) where the displaced/returned exert a high pressure on basic services. Appraisal of RRMP interventions suggests the program has added considerable value to DRC humanitarian crisis response efforts as the ‘first resort response’ mechanism. However, the impact of interventions has been limited due to little coordination with local and other international humanitarian actors. Absence of clearly stated short-, medium- and long-run goals makes it hard to raise funds from donors and logistical unpreparedness often results in delayed RRMP response. Evaluation of the program suggests addressing these shortcomings and following up on intervention activities through partnerships with the government and local actors will improve the effectiveness of response activities. Furthermore, the report suggests securing long-term funding to shift focus from humanitarian to development programming and resilience building, in the short run and partnering with relevant clusters to ensure timely responses tailored to the specific needs of the affected populations are delivered, in the long-run will improve results.