The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to deteriorate in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of ongoing violence amid armed attacks and widespread looting.
In an update on Thursday, OCHA reported that, as insecurity intensifies across eastern DRC, at least 30 people were reportedly killed in armed attacks in Bafwakoa, Mambasa Territory, Ituri province, on Wednesday. This brings the number of civilians killed there since mid-March to over 100.
Local humanitarian organizations also report that more than 390 people have been abducted. This violence has triggered new waves of displacement, adding to the more than 50,000 people already displaced in the territory.
OCHA is warning of widespread looting, including of food, medicines, and medical supplies, from health facilities. Since mid-March, nine health facilities in Mambasa Territory have suspended operations, severely limiting access to healthcare for over 55,000 people in areas that were already underserved.
According to local sources in South Kivu province, at least 20 civilians have been killed and around 10 others injured in clashes since March 23 in the Uvira, Kalehe and Mwenga territories. Homes and livestock have been damaged, forcing families to flee.
Humanitarian needs are increasing, particularly as access to food and healthcare remains limited following renewed clashes that erupted on March 17 between the armed group Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) and the Congolese army (FARDC), along the Uvira–Bukavu axis in South Kivu.
According to OCHA, continued fighting in Masisi territory in neighbouring North Kivu province displaced around 6,000 people between March 28 and 29, adding to the more than 180,000 people already displaced there. Despite the insecurity, aid agencies continue to provide assistance where they can. In recent weeks, more than 30,000 people have received food assistance in Mweso town in Masisi territory.
The UN humanitarian office once again urges all armed groups to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and facilitate safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response in DRC remains critically underfunded. The US$1.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2026, which aims to provide assistance to 7.3 million people in a country where nearly 15 million still require humanitarian aid, is only 30 percent funded, having received just over $421 million so far.
On Tuesday, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported that, in February 2026, it had provided assistance to just over 659,000 people through all its activities in DR Congo. In the four conflict-affected eastern provinces, including Tanganyika, life-saving assistance was delivered to approximately 496,000 people.
However, due to inadequate resources, WFP can only reach a small proportion of those in urgent need of food assistance, while over 3.9 million people across the country face emergency levels of food insecurity.
According to the latest food security analysis, 26.6 million Congolese people are expected to experience acute hunger at crisis levels or worse between January and June 2026. The situation is most dire in the conflict-ridden eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika.
Ongoing armed violence, displacement and limited humanitarian access exacerbate food insecurity in these provinces. Over 10 million people — approximately one-third of the population in these four provinces — are facing crisis levels of hunger, including over 3 million experiencing emergency levels.
At the same time, more than 4.18 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition across the country, putting them in urgent need of nutritional support and treatment. This includes over 1.35 million children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Furthermore, almost 1.54 million pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) in the DRC face malnutrition and require treatment.
In a report released Tuesday, WFP emphasized that the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) remains the most reliable mode of transportation for humanitarian workers in DRC. In February, UNHAS transported more than 1,350 passengers and 13.5 metric tons of freight for 103 aid organizations across 24 locations nationwide.
However, reduced resources and advancing frontlines hinder the effectiveness of air operations. UNHAS requires an additional $19 million before operations will be interrupted in June 2026.
The humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the longest-running and most neglected in the world. Ongoing armed conflict is the primary cause of the emergency. For years, the country's human rights and humanitarian crises have escalated, prompting the United Nations to repeatedly warn of the dire situation and urge the international community to pay more attention to the plight of Congolese civilians.
The eastern provinces, particularly South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri, have been plagued by violence for decades as non-state armed groups battle for control of the region's abundant natural resources. Many of those forced to flee have been displaced multiple times.
While insecurity persists and ongoing clashes continue to displace civilians across eastern DRC, Congolese refugees are gradually returning from Burundi, largely due to the underfunding of global humanitarian efforts, as aid is running out and living conditions in exile continue to deteriorate.