DRC was founded in 1956 and is an international non-governmental organization that promotes and supports durable solutions to the problems faced by refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), migrants, and other displacement-affected individuals around the world. The aim of DRC is to protect the displacement effected people against persecution and to promote durable solutions to the problems of forced migration, on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC works in accordance with the UN Conventions on Refugees and the Code of Conduct for the ICRC and NGOs in Disaster Relief.

DRC has been operating in the Horn of Africa since 1998 and has representation offices in Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya as well as Djibouti. DRC Ethiopia/Djibouti covers both of those countries and has its country office in Addis Ababa and there are 10 field offices in the two countries.