DR Congo: Conflict’s survivors have been through hell, says UN aid chief

The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.

Speaking from the Goma region, whose main city was overrun by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in January, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher explained that people had suffered “decades of trauma”.

The last few months have been “particularly horrific for so many”, he added, referring to the lawless fall-out from heavy fighting this year between the rebel fighters and the regular DRC army that has been linked to serious human rights abuses, including potential war crimes.

“Most striking today and yesterday has been the stories of sexual violence and sitting with women who tell horrific stories which are too horrific for me to tell here and who are trying to find the courage to rebuild their lives,” the UN relief chief said. “We’re there providing that support to them, trying to help them rebuild, but they have been through hell.”

All those newly displaced by the M23 rebel advance are in addition to the five million people already living in displacement camps in eastern DRC. Today, more than 20 million people need relief assistance. “They are desperate for this conflict to end,” Mr. Fletcher continued.

A day after NATO Member States agreed to a five per cent increase in funding for their collective defence, investment in the humanitarian work of the UN and its partners is at rock bottom.

In DRC, a full 70 per cent of UN aid programmes was historically funded by the United States – “amazing generosity over decades” – Mr. Fletcher noted. But today “we're seeing most of that disappearing”, he insisted, forcing the humanitarian community to make “brutal choices, life-and-death choices” about who receives help.

“For these women - the survivors of sexual violence, for the kids who told me they needed water, for the communities that told me they needed shelter, medicine, these cuts are real right now and people are dying because of the cuts,” the top UN official explained.

Despite the difficulties linked to the protracted nature of the conflict in DRC and the massive needs, UN aid teams and their partners are “working hard to get access to those communities,” Mr. Fletcher insisted - “trying to get the airport back open, trying to get roads open, trying to unblock checkpoints that are impeding our aid from getting through”.

In an attempt to square the circle of the steadily diminishing amount of aid funding provided globally, Mr. Fletcher recently announced a “hyper-prioritized” plan to save 114 million lives this year. But that is dependent on receiving the necessary funding. “All we're asking for to do that is one per cent of what the world spent on defence last year,” he continued.

After visiting and connecting with communities impacted time and again by the fighting, the top UN official insisted that they should not be forgotten. “They are the frontlines of the humanitarian effort,” he said.

“I suppose the glimmer of hope in all of this is, yes, we can work in that more efficient and prioritized way and will do that; but also the communities here who are - basically - they've come through so much and they are determined to support each other.”

And despite rising antipathy in some countries towards international cooperation including the work and peace-promoting efforts of the United Nations, Mr. Fletcher insisted that reasons for optimism remain.

“I really strongly believe there's a movement out there that will back this work, that will support this work,” he told UN News. “We've got to find them. We've got to enlist them and we've got to show them that we can deliver for them. And, you know, I've not given up on human kindness and human solidarity. I've not given up on the UN Charter for a second. And this work is at the heart of it.”

ends

STORY: DR Congo update – Tom Fletcher

TRT: 3’13”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 26 JUNE 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Broll from Shasha, North Kivu and Minova, North Kivu, taken 25 June 2025. More available here, kindly credit UN OCHA.

Speakers

• Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of OCHA (from Goma)

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
2. Wide shot: UN vehicle passing along road flanked by tropical forest in DR Congo.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “You know, people here have been through decades of trauma. And of course, the last few months have been particularly horrific for so many; so many displaced over 20 million people in need. And they are desperate for this conflict to end.”
4. Medium, locals, mainly women, seated.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “I think most striking today and yesterday has been the stories of sexual violence and sitting with women who tell horrific stories which, you know, are too horrific for me to tell, here, and who are trying to find the courage to rebuild their lives. We’re there providing that support to them, trying to help them rebuild, but they have been through hell.”
6. Wide, UN vehicle driving along road.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “Here in DRC, 70 per cent of our programmes were funded by the American taxpayer; amazing generosity over decades. And now we're seeing most of that disappearing. And so, we're having to make brutal choices, life-and-death choices and for these women, the survivors of sexual violence, for the kids who told me they needed water, for the communities that told me they needed shelter, medicine, you know, these cuts are real right now and people are dying because of the cuts.”
8. Medium, Tom Fletcher listening to communities impacted by the conflict.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “So you feel the effect of the underfunding, you can feel that we're overstretched in terms of the needs being as great as ever, but we're having to prioritize a smaller number of people. And we're under attack; here in the DRC, we've lost twice as many humanitarian workers this year already as we did in the whole of last year.”
10. Medium, Tom Fletcher with Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, DR Congo, listening to communities impacted by the conflict.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “We're out there working hard to get access to those communities, getting, trying to get the airport back open, trying to get roads open, trying to unblock checkpoints that are impeding our aid from getting through.”
12. Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher walking through a village.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “You mention the NATO summit, you know, week before last in Geneva, I released the latest version of our Global Humanitarian Overview, where we have hyper-prioritized the 114 million lives that we could save this year if we get the funding and all we're asking for to do that is one per cent of what the world spent on defence last year.”
14. Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher visiting a medical services tent.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “I suppose the glimmer of hope in all of this is, yes, we can work in that more efficient and prioritized way and will do that; but also the communities here who are basically they've come through so much and they are determined to support each other. They are the frontlines of the humanitarian effort.”
16. Medium, villagers seen from the UN vehicle window.
17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator: “I really strongly believe there's a movement out there that will back this work, that will support this work; we've got to find them. We've got to enlist them and we've got to show them that we can deliver for them. And, you know, I've not given up on human kindness and human solidarity. I've not given up on the UN Charter for a second. And this work is at the heart of it.”
18. Medium, a baby receiving care in a medical tent.
19. Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher visiting the medical tent.
20. Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher and Bruno Lemarquis listening to community members impacted by the violence.