How we respond to needs in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Dear supporters at Benevity,
We would like to brief you about a major humanitarian emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The conflict which initially started in March 2022 in North Kivu worsened in October 2023 and has continued to escalate ever since, now reaching the outskirts of the city of Goma, home to more than 2 million people, 500,000 of whom had already been displaced from elsewhere within the country.

The fighting is putting already vulnerable communities at enormous risk, jeopardizing food security and essential services by disrupting supply routes and overwhelming health facilities. With more than 5.5 million people fleeing their homes in eastern DRC, a devastating humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

Civilian casualties and abuses are widespread, with some survivors finding their way to Goma’s Ndosho Hospital run by the ICRC, where the wards are filled with bandaged children, women and men seeking medical care and safety. ICRC doctors are working around the clock, tending to the constant influx of patients amidst the turmoil. Abdou Rahmane Sidibe, ICRC’s surgeon in Goma, shared what he’s witnessing on the ground:

“We’ve seen a lot of wounded children…Another issue is the number of pregnant women… We don’t know what will happen today or tomorrow, but it’s continuous – patients keep coming. There are a lot of children who got lost, and this is why the Red Cross is here to take care of them until their families arrive. There’s so much to do.”
The ICRC has been protecting and assisting people affected by conflict and other violence in the DRC since 1960, and in North Kivu since 1993. In response to the recent escalation, we’re ramping up our operations to meet rising needs.

Here are some examples of how we’re helping to maintain the health facilities in the region operational:
- two ICRC surgical teams will continue to operate on patients and provide technical
support to staff at major hospitals in Goma (which it has been supporting for over ten
years), Beni (also in North Kivu) and Bukavu (in South Kivu, to which people have also
fled) and a third team has recently been deployed to Goma
- in Goma, more than 219 weapon-wounded people have been treated with the ICRC’s
help since the beginning of 2024, including 58 wounded people from Sake who arrived
in early February; to help the hospital deal with the influx of people, the ICRC has
helped to set up tents to serve as temporary facilities
- the ICRC and has also helped to transport some people to other facilities, such as the
ICRC-supported hospital in Bukavu, for treatment, and will continue to do so
- up to two hospitals receiving wounded people, and two primary-health-care centres in
areas to which displaced people have fled, will be provided with up to three-months’
worth of supplies, funding and other support; a transitional centre for demobilized
children will also continue to be given medicine on a quarterly basis
- up to six hospitals in the vicinity of Goma, and five primary-health-care centres
serving displaced people, will receive one-off donations of supplies and other support
on an ad hoc basis.
All this work will be coordinated closely with the authorities and with other humanitarian
actors, including other members of the Red Cross and Red Cross Movement.