A two-person MapAction team flew to Kampala, Uganda last week to provide mapping and information management support to humanitarian teams responding to a major refugee crisis in the region. This follows a recent upsurge in conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), causing significant displacement of people into Uganda, a country that is already contending with a large influx of refugees from South Sudan. Around 1.9 million people have fled DRC since the start of 2017, with 242,000 being hosted in Uganda. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) estimates that 13.1 million people are in humanitarian need within DRC.

This latest MapAction deployment follows an earlier scoping mission undertaken by a two-person MapAction team during April this year to assess needs and how MapAction can help. MapAction offered support to in-country teams with analysing and reporting of gathered information to understand the needs of displaced communities. MapAction’s work is being funded by a two-year grant from European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (EU ECHO) aimed at strengthening effective, evidence based humanitarian decision-making. We will continue to provide support both in-country and remotely for around two months.