Dr Congo: Despite efforts to a political solution, violence is still raging in the east

Since January, the region has experienced a new escalation of violence while the M23 armed group supported by Rwanda has launched an offensive in the northern and southern Kivu provinces.

While tensions persist in the DRC, fronts and negotiation positions move, paving the way for peace, Security advice heard this Friday.

The path to lasting peace in the DRC requires a “collective action”, said Bintou KeitaHead of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, Monusco.

“Priority must be given to dialogue on division, and national cohesion must be actively preserved,” she said.

However, while diplomatic efforts focus on the means of fighting the current crisis, the situation in other regions within MonuscoThe field of operations also requires urgent attention.

Humanitarian situation

With seven million people currently displaced across the country, 27.8 million people faced with food insecurity and nearly 1.4 million children in acute malnutrition, the humanitarian situation is disastrous.

The security crisis in the east of the country has worsened the humanitarian situation, but due to funding reductions, Monusco does not have enough means to respond accordingly.

The suspension of funding from the main monusco donor, which covered 70% of the humanitarian response in 2024, “forced humanitarian actors to focus only on vital emergencies,” said Keita.

“We are at the end of July and the humanitarian response plan is 11% funded,” she added.

Insecurity, sexual violence and kidnapping

Violence in the east of the country continues to disproportionately affect women, boys and girls, in particular, because rape and other forms of sexual violence are always systematically used as weapons of war.

Men and boys accused of links with opposite forces are at risk of kidnapping, while women and girls who have survived sexual violence are faced with seriously limited access to health care, because health establishments are often targeted by attacks.

In 2025, more than 290 schools were destroyed, the current violence cycles keeping 1.3 million children away from the education system in Ituri, in the east of the country.