Provision of Humanitarian Air Services in DRC

This operation has been modified as per budget revision 1 (see below)

This Special Operation (SO) 200789 has been established to continue the provision of aviation services for the humanitarian and donor community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It seeks to facilitate safe, reliable, effective and efficient air transport services to enable humanitarian stakeholders to carry out their projects in support of populations in need. The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) has been running in the country since 2008 under SO 107440 (May 2008 - 31 December 2012) and SO 200504 (1 January 2013 – 31 December 2014).

Air transport is the most viable means of travel in DRC. However, local and other noncommercial air operators fall short of international aviation standards. Some air transport support is offered by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department of the European Commission (ECHO) but these services are inadequate for the needs of the humanitarian and donor community. UNHAS is therefore the mainstay to address the transport needs of humanitarian actors in the country.

The project will be managed through the WFP DRC Country Office with a fleet of five fixed wing aircraft and one helicopter to serve approximately 30 destinations.

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Budget revision 1 to DRC Special Operation 200789 seeks to extend the operation by 12 months in order to ensure the continued provision of air transport services to the

humanitarian community until 31 December 2016. This extension will increase the budget by US$ 28,298,560, to a total of US$ 56,290,277.