The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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
- Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
- Wide shot: UN vehicle passing along road flanked by tropical forest in DR Congo.
- 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.”
- Medium, locals, mainly women, seated.
- 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.”
- Wide, UN vehicle driving along road.
- 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.”
- Medium, Tom Fletcher listening to communities impacted by the conflict.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher walking through a village.
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher visiting a medical services tent.
- 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.”
- Medium, villagers seen from the UN vehicle window.
- 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.”
- Medium, a baby receiving care in a medical tent.
- Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher visiting the medical tent.
- Medium-wide, Tom Fletcher and Bruno Lemarquis listening to community members impacted by the violence.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
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