Rising Insecurity Hinders Aid Delivery in Eastern DR Congo, UN Agency Says

According to UN estimates, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently facing a severe humanitarian crisis with 26.4 million people suffering from insecure food conditions and in need of relief aid. The situation is aggravated by the intensification of the armed conflict in the eastern part of the country.

"Rising violence" and bureaucratic constraints are major obstacles to humanitarian assistance reaching the DR Congo, where protracted conflict caused one of the world's dire humanitarian crises, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported.

According to the OCHA, the provision of aid is mainly hindered by insecurity, which is particularly rampant in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

In its recent update on the situation in the country, the agency warned about a "rising level of violence against civilians," saying that over the weekend, over 30 civilians were killed and 20 others wounded as a result of armed attacks in the Mahagi territory, Ituri province. It was noted that insecurity only in Ituri increased the vulnerability of more than one million people.

"This area has already been the scene of numerous attacks resulting from intercommunal tensions. In November and December of last year, 30 civilians were killed and more than 100,000 were displaced," the agency said in a statement.

Last month, the UN suspended all humanitarian flights to conflict zones in North Kivu and Ituri after an attack on one of its helicopters. However, the suspension was lifted two days later, except for helicopter flights.

The OCHA stated that over the past year, the situation "has been exacerbated by a spike in violence," especially in North Kivu where over 600,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since March 2022. Meanwhile, in neighboring Ituri, local communities experience "inter-communal massacres."

It was noted that the DRC is a scene of a major complex crisis with the population affected by conflict, epidemics and natural disasters. Against this backdrop, the UN agency underscored that despite "the international context marked by many overlapping crises," it continues to provide relief aid, including food, medicines, and protection services.

"Humanitarian assistance is not the solution to the humanitarian crisis, but it remains crucial to meet the immediate needs of millions of affected families," said the Humanitarian Coordinator in DRC Bruno Lemarquis.

According to the UN, the country has the largest number of internally displaced people on the African continent. Over six million people are displaced with the majority of them in the eastern provinces, where there has been a resurgence of hostilities since last year.

More than 120 armed factions operate across major portions of eastern DRC, including the rebel March 23 Movement, also known as M23, which launched an uprising against the country's government, seizing large parts of the state's territory. Amid an aggravation of the situation, the East African Community established a regional force to deliver peace and security in the DRC, with Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan sending troops to its eastern regions.