Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Nearly 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict since the start of the year.
Shelley Thakral, WFP Spokesperson:
“The conflict has not let up for 3 years. People have been uprooted from their home, from their lands multiple times. We, as the World Food Programme, we have to be there to give food assistance, to give cash to make sure that these families don’t face hunger so these mothers don’t turn around and say, I have no food to feed my children.”
WFP has scaled up its response from 400,000 to 1.3 million people.
Funding shortages mean WFP is forced to choose who gets food and who goes without.
Background information:
DRC’s conflict-driven hunger crisis is worsening as violence in the eastern province’s surges, forcing families to flee once again. More and more people are arriving at overcrowded camps where there is a lack of food, sanitation and shelter.
• In DRC, WFP’s emergency response in the east has tripled its beneficiary reach, from an average of 400,000 people in May 2023 to an average of 1.3 million people today.
• Nearly one million people have been displaced due to conflict since the start of the year, leading to food shortages and increased commodity prices in Goma's markets.
• The imminent risk that the M23 armed group may seize Goma is deeply troubling.
Around a quarter of DRC’s population – 23.4 million people – are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Many live in poor and cramped conditions with little or no access to food, health services, and education.
• More than 6 million people are displaced and cut off from their homes and livelihoods – including 900,000 people who’ve fled their homes since October 2023 in North Kivu alone. Livelihoods have been decimated.
• In Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, the three conflict-affected eastern provinces, projections show 5.4 million people in acute hunger (IPC3+), of which 1.2 million remain in crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC4). In North Kivu alone, half of all children are malnourished.
• At the heart of a deepening hunger crisis lies a catastrophic situation for women and girls, particularly those living in IDP camps. Women and girls face a constant threat from sexual violence, particularly when they go searching for firewood to sell to buy food for their families. Putting food assistance in the hands of women and providing them with livelihood opportunities is key to curbing the horrifying rates of gender-based violence in DRC.
Funding shortages mean WFP is forced to choose who gets food and who goes without, especially in the east where humanitarian needs and conflict are surging.
• WFP needs US$ 548.5 million to keep comprehensive operations in the DRC.
At minimum, WFP needs US$425 million for the next six months to meet the most acute needs of 1.5 million people in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where violence has led to mass displacement.
Facts and figures:
• 23.4 million - People in IPC 3 and 4 countrywide
• 5.4 million - People in IPC 3 and 4 in Ituri, North and South Kivu
• 3.9 million - Acutely malnourished children
• 1.1 million - Acutely malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women
• 6.4 million - IDPs countrywide
• 1.5 million - IDP increase from January to August 2023
• 7.2 million - People targeted with all interventions (crises response and resilience building) in 2024
• 4.1 million - People targeted for emergency assistance in DRC in 2024
• 3.7 million - People targeted for emergency assistance in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu in 2024.
WFP Response in 2023 (January-December)
• 3.6 million people reached the eastern DRC with emergency assistance.
• 5.3 million people were reached with emergency assistance in DRC.
• 235,000 children reached through school meals in DRC.
• 1.4 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls reached with nutritional products.
• 290,000 people supported with resilience programs.
Nearly 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict since the start of the year.
Shelley Thakral, WFP Spokesperson:
“The conflict has not let up for 3 years. People have been uprooted from their home, from their lands multiple times. We, as the World Food Programme, we have to be there to give food assistance, to give cash to make sure that these families don’t face hunger so these mothers don’t turn around and say, I have no food to feed my children.”
WFP has scaled up its response from 400,000 to 1.3 million people.
Funding shortages mean WFP is forced to choose who gets food and who goes without.
Background information:
DRC’s conflict-driven hunger crisis is worsening as violence in the eastern province’s surges, forcing families to flee once again. More and more people are arriving at overcrowded camps where there is a lack of food, sanitation and shelter.
• In DRC, WFP’s emergency response in the east has tripled its beneficiary reach, from an average of 400,000 people in May 2023 to an average of 1.3 million people today.
• Nearly one million people have been displaced due to conflict since the start of the year, leading to food shortages and increased commodity prices in Goma's markets.
• The imminent risk that the M23 armed group may seize Goma is deeply troubling.
Around a quarter of DRC’s population – 23.4 million people – are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Many live in poor and cramped conditions with little or no access to food, health services, and education.
• More than 6 million people are displaced and cut off from their homes and livelihoods – including 900,000 people who’ve fled their homes since October 2023 in North Kivu alone. Livelihoods have been decimated.
• In Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, the three conflict-affected eastern provinces, projections show 5.4 million people in acute hunger (IPC3+), of which 1.2 million remain in crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC4). In North Kivu alone, half of all children are malnourished.
• At the heart of a deepening hunger crisis lies a catastrophic situation for women and girls, particularly those living in IDP camps. Women and girls face a constant threat from sexual violence, particularly when they go searching for firewood to sell to buy food for their families. Putting food assistance in the hands of women and providing them with livelihood opportunities is key to curbing the horrifying rates of gender-based violence in DRC.
Funding shortages mean WFP is forced to choose who gets food and who goes without, especially in the east where humanitarian needs and conflict are surging.
• WFP needs US$ 548.5 million to keep comprehensive operations in the DRC.
At minimum, WFP needs US$425 million for the next six months to meet the most acute needs of 1.5 million people in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where violence has led to mass displacement.
Facts and figures:
• 23.4 million - People in IPC 3 and 4 countrywide
• 5.4 million - People in IPC 3 and 4 in Ituri, North and South Kivu
• 3.9 million - Acutely malnourished children
• 1.1 million - Acutely malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women
• 6.4 million - IDPs countrywide
• 1.5 million - IDP increase from January to August 2023
• 7.2 million - People targeted with all interventions (crises response and resilience building) in 2024
• 4.1 million - People targeted for emergency assistance in DRC in 2024
• 3.7 million - People targeted for emergency assistance in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu in 2024.
WFP Response in 2023 (January-December)
• 3.6 million people reached the eastern DRC with emergency assistance.
• 5.3 million people were reached with emergency assistance in DRC.
• 235,000 children reached through school meals in DRC.
• 1.4 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls reached with nutritional products.
• 290,000 people supported with resilience programs.
