Attachments
Highlights
- An agreement signed on 23 April 2025 aimed to establish a truce between the DRC government and M23–AFC actors, yet clashes persist in South Kivu, fueling new internal displacement, heightening protection risks (including grave violations against children), and exacerbating multi-sectoral humanitarian needs.
- On 5 May, the DRC declared a cholera epidemic, placing six provinces on alert. In North and South Kivu, UNICEF treated 1,068 suspected cases (including 686 children). From 1–15 May, cholera response teams reached 424 of 473 suspected cases. IDP returns are extending the outbreak into areas with poor WASH infrastructure, complicating the response.
- Flooding in Kasaba village, South Kivu, reportedly killed 62 people (including 47 children). UNICEF dispatched Red Cross Tanganyika for assessment and response.
- UNICEF, in collaboration with the Education Cluster, supported 143,915 final-year students in North and South Kivu to sit their final school exams, including through transportation of testing materials from Kinshasa to Eastern areas.
SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
Despite the 23 April 2025 agreement aiming to establish a truce and effective ceasefire between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the March 23 Movement–Congo River Alliance (M23–AFC) non-state armed groups, clashes persist, especially in South Kivu. In Kalehe, Walungu, Fizi and Mwenga territories, fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), Wazalendo militias and M23–AFC fighters in Fizi and Kaziba has led to new displacement, with civilians —particularly women and children—forced to flee their homes.
During the same period, Twirwaneho militants and Wazalendo clashed in Lugezi and Fizi, reflecting shifting tactical alliances. Meanwhile, M23–AFC advanced to establish a new stronghold in Katogota village, approximately 75 km from Uvira (South Kivu), where FARDC and Burundian national forces remain present.
In North Kivu, hotspot areas in Lubero territory (Lunyasenge, Kathundu, Kisaka, and Kamandi) and in Rutshuru territory (Bambo and Tongo) reported further displacements, while Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacks on civilians in Fungula and Bapere (also in Lubero territory) killed more than 20 people.
Over the previous two weeks, some 308 civilians were reportedly killed by non-identified armed actors across North and South Kivu amid ongoing armed clashes and criminality.
The UN continued verifying grave violations against children by all parties to the conflict. Two-thirds of these verified cases occurred in North Kivu and one-third in South Kivu; recruitment and use of children accounted for more than 70 per cent of incidents during the reporting period.
In Ituri province, Djugu territory remains unstable as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) and the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) clash. Since March 2025, the Convention FOR Popular Movement (Convention pour la Révolution Populaire CRP) – led by a former Hema warlord and allied with Zaire militants– has attacked FARDC positions along Lake Albert’s shores, close to the Uganda–DRC border. These assaults have triggered displacement and heightened Hema–Lendu inter-ethnic tensions in Bunia, with CRP forces reportedly threatening to invade Nizi and Lita localities.
According to local officials, flooding in Kasaba village, located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Fizi Territory, South Kivu Province, has resulted in the deaths of 62 people, including 47 children. UNICEF’s UNiRR programme dispatched its partner, Red Cross Tanganyika, to assess the situation and identify appropriate interventions.
On 5 May 2025, the DRC government declared a country-wide cholera epidemic. Six provinces were placed under formal alert— UpperKatanga, Tanganyika, Tshopo, Kongo Central, North Kivu and South Kivu—with the latter two in the east continuing to report sustained transmission that further strains health services and communities affected by conflict and displacement2 .
Amid these complex security and protection challenges, UNICEF's office in Goma is planning a mission from 14 to 23 May 2025 to deliver medical supplies to support the UNiRR programme. These supplies will strengthen the response capacity of health centers in crisis-affected areas, reaching approximately 13,000 people in Ituri and another 13,000 in Beni territory, North Kivu. Additionally, a separate road-access mission from Bukavu to Uvira is scheduled to ensure sustained emergency response efforts.