Kinshasa, DR Congo
On Tuesday, the European Union (EU) announced that it would release more than โฌ80 million in humanitarian aid to respond to the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region.
The eastern DRC, which borders Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi and is rich in natural resources, has been ravaged by violence for more than three decades.
The humanitarian crisis worsened with the resurgence of the M23 in 2021. Supported by Rwanda and its army, the armed group fighting the Kinshasa authorities seized the major cities of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025, as well as large swathes of territory in the provinces of North and South Kivu
Of the โฌ81 million released, “โฌ68 million will be used to fund humanitarian aid within the DRC,” the EU said in a statement.
A sum of โฌ13.2 million “will support regional refugee assistance measures” and “disaster preparedness throughout the Great Lakes region,” according to the text.
This announcement comes as European Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib visits the DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda “to assess the most urgent humanitarian needs on the ground and advocate for humanitarian access to all parties to the conflict,” the EU said.
More than 21 million people in the DRC are in need of humanitarian aid, while nearly 28 million suffer from food insecurity, the EU points out.
The recent intensification of fighting in the Uvira region of South Kivu province in December also caused the displacement of tens of thousands of Congolese refugees to neighboring Burundi
Angola, mediator in the conflict in eastern DRC, proposed that Kinshasa and the M23 observe a ceasefire starting at noon on Wednesday, but this proposal was not formally accepted by the parties to the conflict.
Kinshasa and the M23 already signed a declaration of principles in Doha in July, paving the way for a permanent ceasefire. The DRC and Rwanda ratified a peace agreement in Washington in December.
However, none of these texts has so far succeeded in silencing the guns in eastern DRC.
Humaniterre with AFP
