The United Nations, along with humanitarian partners and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has launched its 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, requesting $1.4 billion to assist millions of people affected by conflict, displacement, and climate-related disasters in the country.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric announced the appeal during a briefing in New York, highlighting that severe underfunding in 2025 drastically reduced aid delivery across the crisis-stricken nation.
DR Congo remains one of the world’s most protracted and neglected humanitarian emergencies, with nearly 15 million people in need out of a population of 113 million. Due to funding constraints, aid organizations will target assistance to 7.3 million of the most vulnerable this year.
Dujarric outlined the dire consequences of last year's funding gap, which saw only about a quarter of the requested $2.5 billion secured. This shortfall forced the closure of 1,000 nutrition centers, depriving almost 400,000 severely malnourished children of life-saving care. Additionally, 1.5 million people lost access to primary healthcare because of shuttered facilities, medicine shortages, and reduced capacity to contain disease outbreaks.
In eastern provinces, monthly food rations were cut by up to 70 percent, while ongoing fighting in the northeast has further hampered humanitarian operations.
“Without adequate funding, the response won’t match the scale of the needs,” Dujarric warned.
The spokesperson also provided an update on UN peacekeeping efforts, noting that mission personnel recently facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 34 Rwandan nationals from Goma—including 15 former combatants from the FDLR armed group and 19 family members. Since January 2026, a total of 60 people have been repatriated under this program.
The UN peacekeeping mission continues to support Congolese authorities in the disarmament and repatriation of armed group members, in line with its mandate.
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