North Kivu: an alarming worsening of the humanitarian crisis

Fighting between the M23 armed group and the Congolese armed forces, and their respective allies, has exacerbated already severe humanitarian needs and compromised the delivery of aid.

Action Against Hunger calls on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, guaranteeing the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and vital infrastructure.

The humanitarian crisis has worsened considerably in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and especially in North Kivu, since the end of January. In Goma, violent clashes have claimed thousands of victims and damaged essential civilian infrastructures such as schools, health centers and markets. The city’s hospitals, which have received thousands of wounded, are overloaded, while the population, without access to drinking water, is exposed to the risk of contracting diseases such as cholera and the mpox virus, which is still rampant in the area.

The population of Goma and the province, which used to depend on humanitarian aid for its basic needs, is now deprived of vital assistance. “The looting of entire stocks of nutritional inputs, medicines and medical equipment, supply difficulties and the volatile security situation are compromising humanitarian operations not only in Goma province but throughout the region”, explains Florian Monnerie, Director of Action Against Hunger in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Before the clashes in Goma, the conflict had already displaced 2.4 million people in North Kivu. Of these, some 800,000 were living in precarious conditions in sites for the displaced around Goma. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people had to leave everything behind and move again. Once back in their villages of origin or in secondary displacement zones, these people will have very limited access to food, water, decent housing and arable land, as well as healthcare.

Action Against Hunger is particularly concerned about the situation of pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 5, in a context of rising cases of acute malnutrition. “The children who were being cared for at the three sites for displaced people where Action Against Hunger was working are now being moved with their families, and their access to healthcare is severely compromised. We fear that the nutritional crisis will get worse,” adds Florian Monnerie.

With more than 25.5 million people suffering from food insecurity, the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the three biggest food crises in the world. In North Kivu, Action Against Hunger implements nutrition and health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and mental health activities to save lives and prevent and treat acute malnutrition, sometimes in hard-to-reach areas. From January to November 2024, our teams provided 424,044 consultations for the integrated management of childhood illnesses and managed 1,723 cases of acute malnutrition.

In addition to the new challenges posed by the worsening humanitarian crisis, there is also the issue of reduced funding, following the announcement of the end of US funding. The United States is the leading humanitarian donor in the DRC, contributing 68.2% to the humanitarian response plan in 2024. In 2025 and 2026, Action Against Hunger, in collaboration with the Congolese healthcare system, planned to treat 45,000 severely malnourished children and provide healthcare to 360,000 children.

With the abrupt cessation of funding, Action Against Hunger will treat the 1,875 severely malnourished children currently being cared for in health centers and who were supported by American funding, and will then have to close its nutritional centers in areas not supported by other donors. Malnourished children in these health zones will no longer have access to treatment and will be in mortal danger.