Japan and UNHCR support emergency needs of Congolese new arrivals in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Government of Japan held a handover ceremony today to mark the generous donation of USD 500,000 from the Government and people of Japan that is providing safe shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and essential items for Congolese new arrivals in Kigoma region, Tanzania.

“To mitigate the burden of Tanzania as a host country, the government of Japan has been extending humanitarian assistance to the refugee operation. As a responsible member of the international community, we would like to continue to provide steady and continuous assistance to the full extent possible,” said H.E Mr. Yasushi Misawa, Ambassador of Japan to Tanzania.

UNHCR and the Government of Tanzania are working hand in hand with national and international partners in supporting the new arrivals in Kigoma region with emergency shelter such as tents, blankets, and sleeping mats, and life-saving items such as soap and mosquito nets. In emergencies, access to shelter, water, sanitation facilities, and essential items for hygiene promotion is paramount to reducing mortality and morbidity, and enhancing refugees’ protection, dignity, and quality of life.

“The significant contribution from the Government of Japan enables UNHCR to continue providing physical protection and basic items for dignified living for Congolese women, children, and men, forcibly displaced by violence, who are arriving in Tanzania with little more than the clothes on their backs,” said Ms. Mahoua Parums, UNHCR’s Representative in Tanzania.

With funding from the Government of Japan covering March to December 2023, UNHCR has constructed more than 1,300 emergency family shelters, and provided over 12,000 new arrivals with sleeping mats, blankets, soap, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, and buckets, and built 10 new water collection points, in addition to expanding and improving the water supply network at reception and transit centres, and in the camps, among other life-saving activities.

Since the start of this year, over 14,000 asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were received in Tanzania. UNHCR requires USD 8 million to respond to the DRC emergency in Tanzania and appeals for more humanitarian and international community support as needs are rising. As of 30 September 2023, Tanzania hosts around 250,000 refugees, mainly from Burundi and DRC.

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For additional information:

Embassy of Japan in Tanzania: Chie Miyashita, Coordinator for Economic Cooperation, [email protected], +0684496099

UNHCR: Bahia Egeh, External Relations Officer, [email protected], +255 765 168 179