Feasibility of Establishing a Core Set of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health Indicators in Humanitarian Settings: Results from a Multi-Methods Assessment in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Background: Reliable and rigorously collected sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) data in humanitarian settings are often sparse and variable in quality across different humanitarian settings. To address this gap in quality data, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a core set of indicators for monitoring and evaluating SRMNCAH services and outcomes and assessed their feasibility in four countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the goal of aggregating information from global consultations and field-level assessments to reach consensus on a set of core SRMNCAH indicators among WHO partners. Methods: The feasibility assessment in DRC focused on the following constructs: relevance/usefulness, feasibility of measurement, systems and resources, and ethical issues. The multi-methods assessment included five components; a desk review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, facility assessments, and observational sessions. Results: The findings suggest that there is widespread support among stakeholders for developing a standardized core list of SRMNCAH indicators to be collected among all humanitarian actors in DRC. There are numerous resources and data collection systems that could be leveraged, built upon, and improved to ensure the feasibility of collecting this proposed set of indicators. However, the data collection load requested from donors, the national government, international and UN agencies, coordination/cluster systems must be better harmonized, standardized, and less burdensome. Conclusions: Despite stakeholder support in developing a core set of indicators, this would only be useful if it has the buy-in from the international community. Greater harmonization and coordination, alongside increased resource allocation, would improve data collection efforts and allow stakeholders to meet indicators’ reporting requirements.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Peacekeeping Operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study relied on qualitative methodology while data was gathered through key informant interviews and documentary search. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the humanitarian situation in the DRC. This has seen rising unemployment, political instability, and domestic violence being witnessed. The pandemic has fuelled geopolitical friction. Peacekeeping missions are necessitated by the need to facilitate and monitor the political process, protect civilians, assist in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants and support the organization of elections, protect, and promote human security. If peacekeeping operations are disrupted, there will be chaos, abuse, and forced displacement of people among the region and internationally. It can be concluded that the pandemic has negatively affected peacekeeping operations in the DRC.