Following devastating bushfires in Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Humanitarian Action for Africa (HAA), in partnership with CBS and with funding from Start Network through its Start Fund mechanism, is supporting affected families through cash assistance, protection and fire prevention.
In August 2026, bushfires destroyed homes and essential household belongings in Batuta and Matchapano, Maniema Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For families in Batuta, this was the second such disaster in two years, leaving households facing renewed losses and the difficult task of rebuilding their lives.
Beyond the destruction of homes and personal belongings, the fires disrupted families’ living conditions and their ability to meet basic needs. For many affected households, recovery meant finding ways to restore their shelter, replace essential items and regain a sense of safety and stability.
In response, Humanitarian Action for Africa (HAA), in partnership with CBS and with funding from Start Network through its Start Fund mechanism, launched an integrated emergency response to support affected communities.
An integrated response to urgent needs
The response combines three complementary components: multipurpose cash assistance, protection activities and community-based fire prevention.
Through this intervention, 580 households, representing approximately 3,480 people, received multipurpose cash assistance to meet their most urgent needs and begin rebuilding their lives.
Rather than prescribing exactly what families should receive, cash assistance gives households the flexibility to decide how best to use the support according to their circumstances. This may include replacing essential household belongings, meeting immediate household expenses or addressing other priority needs arising from the fires.
Community members also participated in identifying affected households. This approach helps ensure that the response reflects local realities and that assistance reaches families whose homes and belongings were damaged or destroyed.
Putting families at the centre of recovery
Every household experiences the consequences of a disaster differently. While one family may need to replace essential household items, another may prioritise restoring its shelter or meeting other immediate expenses.
Multipurpose cash assistance recognises these differences by allowing families to make their own decisions based on their most pressing needs. It supports their ability to take an active role in their recovery while preserving their dignity and freedom of choice.
For families whose homes have been destroyed, rebuilding is about more than restoring physical structures. It is also about recovering a safe place to live, protecting loved ones and regaining control over everyday decisions.
By placing households at the centre of the response, HAA and CBS aim to ensure that assistance responds to people’s priorities rather than imposing a single solution on every family.
Combining assistance with protection and prevention
The emergency response extends beyond immediate material needs. Protection activities form an important part of the intervention, helping address risks that affected households may face during periods of heightened vulnerability.
These activities include awareness-raising on the prevention of gender-based violence and referrals for people who require specialised support. By integrating protection into the emergency response, HAA and CBS seek to ensure that affected people can access appropriate support alongside assistance for their immediate needs.
The intervention also includes community-based fire-prevention activities. These aim to strengthen awareness of fire risks and encourage safer practices, helping communities reduce the likelihood and impact of similar incidents in the future.
Together, cash assistance, protection and fire prevention provide a more comprehensive response to the consequences of the fires. The approach addresses immediate needs while supporting safer recovery and greater community preparedness.
Supporting recovery in communities facing repeated emergencies
The experience of Batuta, where families have faced similar destruction twice in two years, highlights the challenges of recovering when emergencies occur repeatedly.
For households already affected by previous losses, another disaster can place additional pressure on limited resources and make recovery even more difficult. Timely assistance can help families address urgent priorities while taking their first steps towards rebuilding.
Through this intervention, HAA and CBS are working to support affected households in meeting their immediate needs, strengthening access to protection services and promoting safer community practices.
Community participation remains central to this process. Involving local people in identifying affected households helps ground the response in the realities of the communities it serves.
A partnership supporting locally led humanitarian action
This response is funded by Start Network through its Start Fund mechanism, which supports humanitarian action in response to emergencies. The funding enables HAA and its partner CBS to deliver assistance to families affected by the August 2026 bushfires in Maniema Province.
HAA acknowledges Start Network's support in making this intervention possible and recognises the importance of partnerships that enable timely, locally led responses to humanitarian needs.
As affected families work to restore their homes and daily lives, the response reflects a fundamental principle of humanitarian action: people affected by emergencies should have the support and the freedom to determine what they need most to recover with dignity.
Through cash assistance, protection and fire prevention, HAA and CBS are supporting 580 households as they begin rebuilding after the fires, while contributing to safer and more resilient communities in Maniema Province.
