The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Goma: ‘Critical’ moment for population caught in crossfire – UN humanitarians
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civilians caught up in heavy fighting face a “critical” 24 hours, with food and water running low and aid unable to enter, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva that his colleagues on the ground reported “heavy small arms fire and mortar fire” in the regional capital Goma as well as “many dead bodies in the streets”.
“We have reports of gender-based violence and rape committed by fighters, looting of property, including of a humanitarian warehouse, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit,” he said.
Last week, fighting in the area intensified between the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group and Congolese forces. According to media reports the rebels declared Goma under their control.
Mr. Laerke said that hospitals in the city were “overwhelmed, struggling to manage the influx of wounded people”. He warned of challenges to power and water supplies, noting that internet services were cut off on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, “Goma is still offline,” he said.
For years, Goma had been a refuge for desperate people displaced by the violence in eastern DRC, amid what top UN aid official in the country Bruno Lemarquis called “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth” on Monday.
Violent attacks with the use of heavy artillery targeting internally displaced persons’ (IDP) sites in the area have claimed lives and sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing in past days. The UN refugee agency (UNCHR) estimates that IDP sites hosting some 300,000 people emptied over the weekend.
Speaking from Kinshasa, UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Shelley Thakral highlighted the plight of families fleeing the fighting, who face “unimaginable” challenges.
“Every step of their journey is fraught with danger. Roads are blocked, ports are closed, and those crossing Lake Kivu risk their lives in makeshift boats,” she said.
Ms. Thakral sounded the alarm over food scarcity in Goma and rising food prices, as the airport and major access roads within the region have been cut off. Food assistance activities in and around Goma are temporarily paused because of the security situation, she said.
“Depending on the duration of violence, the supply of food into the city could be severely hampered. This is a huge test for Congolese trapped by fighting in Goma and surrounding areas,” the WFP spokesperson insisted, adding that the next 24 hours will be “critical” as people start running low on supplies.
The dire humanitarian and protection crisis is compounded by rising health risks, Dr. Adelheid Marschang, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s Emergency Response Coordinator for the DRC, told reporters.
“There are currently hundreds of people in hospital, most admitted with gunshot and shrapnel wounds,” she said, underscoring the risk of secondary infections.
Dr. Marschang stressed WHO’s concern for the “health and safety of women and girls who are at a higher risk of violence, including rape”. Some women have been “raped several times in search for firewood,” she said.
The WHO official also highlighted the threat to pregnant women, who already face “very high” maternal death rates.
The situation threatens to aggravate an already dire health crisis. Last year the provinces of North and South Kivu reported high numbers of cholera, measles and malaria cases and deaths, Dr. Marschang said, warning of a “heightened risk for spillover of cholera” into neighbouring countries and provinces.
The area was also the epicentre of an outbreak of a new strain of mpox, declared a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024. Dr. Marschang warned that the new wave of displacement will make it increasingly hard to track and treat the disease.
Amid the lethal violence, hospitals and health workers themselves are in danger, the WHO official said, with “reports of health workers being shot at and patients including babies being caught in crossfire”.
“Attacks on healthcare violate the rules of war. Healthcare must be protected at all times,” she insisted.
-ends-
STORY: DRC humanitarian update OCHA – WFP – WHO 28 January 2025
TRT: 2:39”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 28 JANUARY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screen; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “This morning, our colleagues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) report heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets. We have reports of gender-based violence and rape committed by fighters, looting of property, including of a humanitarian warehouse, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit.”
4. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium from rear; speaker on screen.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Hospitals in Goma are reportedly overwhelmed, struggling to manage the influx of wounded people. Electricity and water supplies are compromised and yesterday, internet services were cut off and Goma is still offline.”
6. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Shelley Thakral, spokesperson in DRC, UN World Food Programme (WFP): “We’ve seen families fleeing the fighting and they’re facing unimaginable challenges. Every step of their journey is fraught with danger. Roads are blocked, ports are closed, and those crossing Lake Kivu risk their lives in makeshift boats.”
8. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Shelley Thakral, spokesperson in DRC, UN World Food Programme (WFP): “WFP is concerned about food scarcity in Goma and rising food prices as the airport and major access roads within the region have been cut off. So, depending on the duration of violence, the supply of food into the city could be severely hampered. This is a huge test for Congolese trapped by fighting in Goma and surrounding areas.”
10. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Adelheid Marschang, Emergency Response Coordinator for the DRC, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “There are currently hundreds of people in hospital, most admitted with gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Secondary infections become a health risk. WHO is especially worried for the health and safety of women and girls who are at a higher risk of violence, including rape. Pregnant women are at risk with very high maternal death rates.”
12. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Adelheid Marschang, Emergency Response Coordinator for the DRC, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “We are hearing reports of health workers being shot at and patients including babies being caught in crossfire. WHO reminds everyone that attacks on healthcare violate the rules of war. Healthcare must be protected at all times.”
14. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.