GENEVA – UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, are deeply concerned by the growing crisis unfolding once again in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Violent clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces have displaced more than 450,000 people in the Rutshuru and Masisi areas of North Kivu province over the past six weeks.
The limited access of humanitarian aid to people in urgent need, particularly due to the blockage of main routes, further exacerbates the crisis. Around 200,000 internally displaced people are stranded and have no access to humanitarian assistance. Unfortunately, due to restrictions on access to the population, it is expected that an additional 100,000 people will be unable to access assistance in the coming days if current conflict trends continue.
Road closures not only prevent the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance, but also increase the vulnerability of displaced people, leaving them without vital resources and protection. Although UNHCR has built shelters for more than 40,000 people and distributed more than 30,000 sets of basic supplies such as insulated tarpaulins, cooking pots and blankets near the provincial capital Goma in recent months, the international community must urgently address the obstruction of humanitarian access to ensure that the nearly 7 million people affected by the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo receive urgent assistance.
The harrowing testimonies of displaced people arriving by the tens of thousands in Sake, a town 35 kilometers west of Goma, underline the gravity of the situation. Originally displaced in areas where help was not available, many of them described to UNHCR teams how they were forced to make terrible decisions, such as men risking their lives to feed hungry children or women risking their lives of being raped when they went out collecting firewood.
These statements are supported by statistics. Protection reports compiled by UNHCR and its partners in October show more than 3,000 incidents of human rights violations, almost double the previous month. Rape and arbitrary killings are among the main complaints, along with kidnapping, extortion and destruction of property, illustrating a deeply disturbing pattern of abuses against the civilian population.
The rise in violence is having a devastating impact on the lives of girls and boys, who are suffering from an alarming number of serious rights violations. The total number of reports of rape of minors recorded by UNHCR child protection partners between July and September 2023 totaled 2,018 cases. This figure represents a sharp 130% increase compared to the already high number of rapes reported in the first half of the year.
Boys and girls are increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. From July to September, more than 450 cases were reviewed, an increase of 50% compared to the first half of the year.
UN partners and humanitarian actors are rapidly increasing humanitarian assistance and protection to meet urgent needs arising from overcrowding and inadequate shelter in spontaneous settlements in the eastern provinces, where access to food and clean water is very limited. Cholera outbreaks continue to occur, highlighting the worrying limits of currently available humanitarian assistance.
Since June 2023, UNICEF has reached nearly 700,000 people with life-saving assistance, including clean water and sanitation, child protection, non-food items, health, nutrition and education. Given the recent deterioration in the security situation in North Kivu, in October UNICEF and its partners accelerated identification, documentation and support search and family reunification procedures in Masisi and Rutshuru areas by increasing the presence of trained personnel and establishing psychosocial facilities Support centers.
UNHCR and UNICEF urge all actors in eastern DRC to stop the violence, which is having a terrible impact on the civilian population. We are united in our commitment to alleviating the suffering of those affected by the crisis, but the international community must act quickly and generously to ensure that sufficient resources are mobilized.
Humanitarian aid in the Democratic Republic of Congo is significantly underfunded. By 2023, the coordinated humanitarian response plan, which covers the financial needs of UNHCR and UNICEF, is set at $2.3 billion (USD), but so far only 37% of this funding has been met.