The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that trucks packed with cereals, beans and cooking oil reached the city of Beni in North Kivu province from neighbouring Uganda, amid clashes between Rwanda-backed M23 rebel fighters and Congolese forces. Aid for 140,000 WFP said that it intends to use the thousands...
And with nearly seven million people forcibly displaced by violence since advances by M23 rebels earlier this year, the DRC is facing one of the world’s most complex displacement crises, according to the UN migration agency (IOM). Living in overcrowded and under-resourced camps, displaced populations are increasingly vulnerable to both...
“We’re pushed to our limits,” said Ayaki Ito, Director for Emergencies for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. One mother was so desperate to reach safety she crossed the 100-metre wide Rusizi river separating DRC and Burundi with her three small children and their belongings, Mr. Ito told journalists in Geneva:...
In a briefing to ambassadors, UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Huang Xia called for increased coordination of peace processes. He noted that the Congo River Alliance-M23 rebel group has continued its territorial expansion. This is happening despite calls from the Security Council, regional and sub-regional organizations in...
The Rugumba River burst its banks, inundating large areas of Kalemie and Nyunzu territories, destroying homes, schools and agricultural land. Thousands have been left without shelter or a means to earn a living, while key crops such as cassava, maize, and peanuts have been wiped out, worsening an already serious...
Spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva via video link from Goma that children could account for up to 45 per cent of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence documented in January and February, amid heightened tensions between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and Government forces across the mineral-rich...
The UN health agency registered almost 810,000 cases and 5,900 deaths from the preventable disease in 2024; that’s about 50 per cent higher than the previous year, according to Dr Philippe Barboza, who leads WHO’s cholera team. He said the latest reported cases are almost certainly underestimates and that the...
Intense clashes between local armed groups and M23 rebels were reported on Thursday in the town of Masisi Centre in North Kivu. Preliminary reports from partners on the ground indicate at least two civilian fatalities and multiple injuries, with several wounded evacuated to Masisi General Hospital. Meanwhile, many civilians remain...
The grim revelation emerged during a high-level discussion at the UN in Geneva on the human rights situation in DRC. The Council – the UN’s foremost human rights forum – also heard updates on allegations of ongoing abuses in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Surging violence Despite best...
That’s according to the head of MONUSCO, Bintou Keita, speaking exclusively to UN News ahead of briefing members of the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday. Mediation efforts The meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame last week in Qatar – where they called for a...
The United Nations agency has received only $1.57 billion of the $21.1 billion required to sustain its operations this year, with donations slashed by 40 per cent after cuts from major donors like the United States. “WFP is prioritizing countries with the greatest needs and stretching food rations at the...
The situation represents one of the world’s worst food crises, according to the UN-partnered Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform. “The humanitarian situation in the DRC is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Families who were already struggling to feed themselves are now facing an even harsher reality,” said Eric Perdison,...