The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
DR Congo displacement, health crisis worsens amid dwindling aid access – UN humanitarians
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a dire displacement crisis is escalating as M23 rebels make headway while aid routes are cut off, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
“The crisis is worsening as people flee to areas where humanitarian aid cannot reach due to insecurity,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Eujin Byun told reporters in Geneva.
The development comes a day after the top UN aid official in the country Bruno Lemarquis warned that a shortage of humanitarian routes was threatening the aid operation in the region.
The rebels, who seized North Kivu province’s capital Goma late last month, are advancing towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, following a short-lived lull in fighting.
Ms. Byun said that in South Kivu, more than half of the aid groups providing critical support to survivors of sexual violence “report being unable to reach those in need due to insecurity and continuous displacement”.
Meanwhile, in North Kivu, “the destruction of health facilities, including mortuaries, and overcrowded hospitals increase the risk of spreading infectious diseases, including cholera, malaria, and measles,” she said.
The UNHCR spokesperson also highlighted the fact that “heavy artillery shelling and looting” have destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters around Goma and Minova in North and South Kivu provinces, leaving some 350,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) “once again without a roof over their heads”.
While some 100,000 displaced people have attempted to return to their home areas, where they are met with damage to their homes and a lack of essential services, many remain stranded, Ms. Byun said. Unexploded ordnance left over from the fighting is another obstacle to their safe return.
Ms. Byun warned of the possibility that those people “will be displaced once again”.
The UNHCR spokesperson stressed that most of the 28 IDP sites around Goma are now destroyed. The agency’s concern in terms of aid access is that the road from Goma to Bukavu has been cut off, she said.
Ms. Byun also recalled that the airport in Goma is “still not functioning for humanitarian aid”.
“Since violence has spread to South Kivu, this supply line is our biggest concern,” she added.
With the rebels pushing towards Bukavu, the UN’s Mr. Lemarquis expressed worry on Thursday about the fate of South Kivu’s main airport some 20 miles from the province’s capital, which until recently was the “main lifeline” for bringing in humanitarian personnel.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Christian Lindmeier, highlighted the “heavy” impact of the hostilities on the mpox response, “particularly in Goma and the adjacent area” as the fighting spread southwards.
He stressed that the DRC is “the worst-affected country for mpox”, with Kivu being the epicentre of the highly infectious clade 1b outbreak.
Due to the rapid spread of the clade 1b strain, in August last year WHO moved to declare mpox once again a “public health emergency of international concern”, for the second time after a global outbreak of the virus made headlines in 2022.
Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that before the latest violence in eastern DRC, mpox cases had been stabilizing. But the recent fighting has forced patients to flee treatment centres, increasing transmission risks.
“Out of 143 confirmed mpox patients in isolation units in Goma and around, 128 fled in fear for their lives,” Mr. Lindmeier said, stressing that only 15 patients remain in isolation.
“That’s of course dangerous for everybody around,” he insisted.
Mr. Lindmeier added that some health facilities in the area had been looted, health workers had fled, and people were unable to access healthcare because of the security situation.
-Ends -
STORY: DRC humanitarian update UNHCR – WHO 14 February 2025
TRT: 3:04”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 14 FEBRUARY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The crisis is worsening as people flee to areas where humanitarian aid cannot reach due to insecurity. In South Kivu, over 50 per cent of humanitarian organizations providing critical support to survivors of sexual violence report being unable to reach those in need due to insecurity and continuous displacement. Meanwhile, in North Kivu, the destruction of health facilities, including mortuaries, and overcrowded hospitals increase the risk of spreading infectious diseases, including cholera, malaria, and measles.”
4. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Heavy artillery shelling and looting have destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters around Goma and Minova in North and South Kivu provinces, leaving some 350,000 internally displaced people once again without a roof over their heads.”
6. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Around Goma there has been 28 IDP sites, most of them are destroyed. Still, we have some access, but our biggest concern is that we don’t have the access from Goma, the road from Goma to Bukavu is cut.”
8. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “100,000 attempt to return to their hometown, which they also found difficult because of explosive ordnance, and also lack of services, meaning that if they cannot find safety and essential services [in their] place of origin, there is also a possibility [that] those people will be displaced once again.”
10. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “As far as I know, the airport (in Goma) is still not functioning for the humanitarian aid, and this is one of our concerns as well. And at the same time, since the violence has spread to South Kivu, and then [this] supply line, supply pipeline, is our biggest concern.”
12. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “The mpox response is heavily impacted, of course, particularly in Goma and the adjacent area, with the conflict now reaching South Kivu as well. DRC in general is the worst-affected country for mpox, with Kivu being the epicentre of the clade 1b outbreak.”
14. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “Out of 143 confirmed mpox patients in isolation units in Goma and around, 128 fled in fear for their lives. Only 15 patients, about 10 per cent, remained in isolation. And that’s of course dangerous for everybody around.”
16. Close shot: journalist in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades in 2025 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.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | 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.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.