That’s according to the head of MONUSCO, Bintou Keita, speaking exclusively to UN News ahead of briefing members of the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday. Mediation efforts The meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame last week in Qatar – where they called for a...
Over 850,000 civilians have been displaced in South Kivu province, nearly half of them children, according to the agency. Many are living in precarious conditions, sheltering in schools, churches or in the open, lacking clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. Grave violations against children have also sharply risen, including...
According to the UN relief coordination office, OCHA, aid workers have been among those killed, and widespread human rights violations have been reported, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at a regular news briefing in New York. “In Lubero Territory, north of Goma, clashes last week forced more than 100,000...
The 15 members called on the Rwanda Defence Forces to stop supporting the armed group and immediately withdraw from Congolese territory “without preconditions.” The Council reiterated its urgent appeal for all parties to conclude an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as called for by leaders from East and Southern Africa. They...
“The rapid and uninterrupted expansion of the conflict, particularly in South Kivu province, continues to inflict a heavy toll on the civilian population,” said UN humanitarian coordinator for DRC, Bruno Lemarquis. “The population can no longer continue to pay such a heavy price for a conflict that continues to spread...
Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, expressed deep concern over the devastating impact on children and families. “In North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we...
Fighting escalated sharply in late January, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized control of parts of North Kivu, including areas near the regional capital Goma, and advanced towards South Kivu. Before the latest violence, mpox cases had been stabilizing, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a speech to the agency’s...
Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed journalists at UN Headquarters on Friday, as the M23 rebel group and Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) continued their march toward the city of Bukavu, having taken control of the provincial capital, Goma, earlier this week. “We are concerned not only as far as the eastern DRC is...
The rebels have already seized the provincial capital, Goma, and reports indicate that they are closing in on the key city of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province. The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been volatile for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has...
Bintou Keita, who also heads the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, reported on the instability in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, particularly operations by four armed groups: ADF, M23, CODECO and Zaïre. She applauded efforts to quell the violence there and in the wider region, highlighting...
Holland’s outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify aid consignments to the embittered enclave, in line with a recent Security Council resolution. She will also establish a mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief shipments through States that are not party to the conflict. She is expected...
Violent clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces have displaced more than 450,000 people in the last six weeks in Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu province. People arriving in the town of Sake, located near the provincial capital Goma, spoke of having to make harrowing choices, with...