The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday urged all actors in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) to stop the violence that is taking an enormous toll on the civilian population, in particular children. Violent clashes between non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and government forces have forcibly displaced more than 450,000 people in the last six weeks in Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu Province.
Clashes between members of the rebel force Mouvement du 23 mars (M23), the Congolese armed forces and coalitions of armed groups in the province of North Kivu that have been occurring daily since the beginning of October. Most clashes are taking place in the Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories.
According to the UN agencies, the severity of the displacement crisis is further exacerbated by the limited humanitarian access to those in dire need, primarily due to the obstruction of major routes.
“Cut off from essential humanitarian aid, approximately 200,000 internally displaced people are currently stranded,” said Angele Dikongue-Atangana, UNHCR Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, speaking from Kinshasa.
“Tragically, an additional 100,000 people are anticipated to confront restricted access in the coming days if the current trends of conflict persist.”
The UN official noted during a media briefing in Geneva that the disruption of roads not only impedes the delivery of critical humanitarian aid but also heightens the vulnerability of displaced populations, leaving them without essential resources and protection.
“Although UNHCR has built shelters in recent months for more than 40,000 people near the provincial capital of Goma, and distributed more than 30,000 kits containing tarps, cooking pots, and blankets, the international community must urgently address the obstruction of humanitarian access to ensure that the nearly 7 million people affected by conflict in eastern DRC receive urgent help,” Dikongue-Atangana said.
UN agencies and humanitarian partner organizations are urgently scaling up humanitarian and protection assistance to tackle urgent needs stemming from overcrowding and inadequate shelter in spontaneous sites in the eastern provinces, with limited access to food and clean water.
UNHCR and UNICEF said that the gravity of the situation was underscored by the distressing reports of displaced people in the town of Sake, who were arriving by the tens of thousands, 35 kilometers west of Goma. Having first been force to flee to zones where aid was not accessible, they described to UNHCR staff making harrowing choices, including men risking death to feed starving children and women risking rape to collect firewood.
The UNHCR representative said that there were over 3,000 reported human rights violations, including rape, arbitrary killings, kidnappings, extortion, and the destruction of property, in October, nearly double the figure from the previous month, illustrating a deeply concerning pattern of abuse inflicted upon civilian populations.
The DRC already suffers one of the largest displacement crises in Africa – after Sudan – due to the ongoing violence. More than 8.2 million people in the country have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 7 million internally displaced persons and 1.3 million refugees, that have sought safety in neighboring countries. In addition, DR Congo hosts some 500,000 refugees.
As of November 2023, most internally displaced persons (IDPs), about 5.5 million (80 percent), live in the eastern provinces of North Kivu (2.41 million IDPs), Ituri (1.65 million), and South Kivu (1.49 million).
With ongoing conflict, escalating violence, and pervasive human rights abuses, the DR Congo is facing one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. For decades, the country has endured multiple, overlapping emergencies driven mainly by conflict and forced displacement, particularly North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri.
UNHCR and UNICEF on Friday underscored that the intensification of violence is having a devastating impact on the lives of children, who are facing an alarming number of serious violations of their rights.
Grant Leaity, UNICEF Representative for the DR Congo, also speaking from Kinshasa, said that the number of overall violations reported against children between July and September 2023 had seen a sharp increase of 130 percent to 2018 cases on the already high number of violations reported for the first half of the year.
Children were increasingly vulnerable to recruitment and use by armed groups, with more than 450 verified cases from July to September, a 50 percent increase versus the first half of the year, Leaity said.
He also reported that, since June 2023, UNICEF had reached nearly 700,000 people with lifesaving and life-changing assistance, including clean water and sanitation, child protection, non-food items, health, nutrition and education.
In June this year, the world’s top relief officials announced a system-wide scale-up that allowed humanitarian organizations to increase their operations in eastern DR Congo following months of relentless violence, displacement and rising humanitarian needs. In recent months, humanitarian organizations have stepped up their operations. However, aid agencies urgently need additional financial support to continue and strengthen their operations.
UNHCR and UNICEF urgently call on all actors in eastern DRC to stop the violence that is taking an enormous toll on the civilian population.
“We stand united in our commitment to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the crisis, but the international community must act swiftly and generously to ensure that sufficient resources are mobilized,” Dikongue-Atangana said.
The humanitarian response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is significantly underfunded. For 2023, the Humanitarian Response Plan calls for US$2.3 billion to provide life-saving assistance, but, as of November 25, it is only 37 percent funded.
Further information
Full text: UNHCR and UNICEF express grave concern over the humanitarian toll on civilians in eastern DR Congo, UNHCR, briefing notes, published November 24, 2023
https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-and-unicef-express-grave-concern-over-humanitarian-toll-civilians-eastern