DRC

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A resurgence of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has strained health care facilities already stretched thin by decades of conflict. One of those facilities is Masisi general hospital in North Kivu, where children share beds in the malnutrition ward while patients with gunshot and stab wounds are treated in tents. Located five hours' drive away from Goma, North Kivu's provincial capital, Masisi general hospital is the referral structure for all 26 surrounding health areas. With its 310 beds, this MSF-supported facility is the place to go for patients in critical condition or with medical complications. Within its walls, women, men and children coping with years of daily violence receive much-needed care, day after day.

Twice as many patients than beds

The malnutrition unit at Masisi general hospital has an 18-bed capacity, but over the past weeks, up to 40 children have been hospitalized at the same time. Nursing staff are trying to create extra space by setting up new beds and moving others to an adjacent place.

Following armed clashes that occurred in January, at least 41,000 people fled to the Masisi health zone within weeks. Thousands of families were suddenly cut off from their fields and moved to camps for displaced people in Masisi-Centre, Lushebere, and Katale, which were already hosting tens of thousands of people. Some have been there for years.

Louise* and her infant son are among the displaced. They fled armed clashes in Kitchanga and settled in the Masisi-Centre displacement site in March. Just a few weeks after their arrival, her son started developing malnutrition. He was admitted to Masisi hospital a few days ago.

"In Kitchanga, I used to grow beans, manioc, sweet potatoes. But here, I can only earn a little money by carrying firewood,” says Louise. “I don't earn enough to make more than one meal a day. Sometimes, we just go to sleep with an empty stomach. War brought us this life of misery."

Two years after a state-of-siege was declared in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, violence and the proliferation of weapons continue unabated in the Masisi territory. From January to March 2023, 110 gunshot wounded have been treated at Masisi general hospital. Among them are Agathe's* two young children, aged 2 and 3 respectively, who lay on a bed with their legs in plaster.

"Bandits came to threaten our neighbor. It turned ugly and they started shooting blindly in the street,” recalls Agathe. "Bullets pierced the floorboards of my house and hit my two children, who were asleep in the same bed. One was shot in the shin and the other was shot twice in the heels. I feel dizzy seeing them suffer so much. I can't understand how we got there.”

A never-ending emergency

MSF began supporting the Masisi general hospital in 2007, when the area was the scene of violent clashes between armed groups. Fifteen years later, peace is still elusive in this part of DRC. According to recent estimates, the Masisi territory is now home to 470,000 displaced people, or one-fifth of all displaced people in North-Kivu province. Over the years, almost all humanitarian organizations left the area despite continuing instability and urgent need.

After a relative period of calm in 2021, violence erupted again in 2022. Sexual violence has been particularly prevalent, as is often the case during periods of instability. At Masisi hospital, MSF teams treated more than 740 survivors of sexual violence in 2022; this year, there were 165 patients in the first three months alone. Meanwhile, MSF is responding to an alarming increase of sexual violence elsewhere in North Kivu. Our teams working in displacement camps in and around Goma provided sexual violence care for an average of 48 people a day during the last two weeks of April alone.

"Some [survivors] are coming back for the second or third time already" says Alice, a psychosocial counselor at Masisi hospital. "Sexual and physical violence, displacement, loss of loved ones, lootings … There is a constant repetition of traumatic events. We all end up living in in fear of the next violent episode.”

Day after day, Alice and the other psychosocial counselors try to alleviate the invisible wounds that often accompany physical ailments. "Living in Masisi is extremely stressful. No one is safe. Most people we treat suffer from anxiety, hypervigilance and sadness. Some have suicidal thoughts. Many have just lost all hope," she says.

As a thunderstorm roars over Masisi, rain falls heavily on the sheet metal roof of the hospital. Patients hurry back to their beds. For a few more days, Agathe and Louise will benefit from the precarious shelter offered by the hospital while their children recover. Afterwards, they will have to go back home. "I am afraid to go back there,” says Agathe. “But what can I do? We have no choice, we have nowhere else to go.”

*MSF currently supports all services at the general referral hospital in Masisi, which admitted more than 14,500 patients in 2022. In order to facilitate access to free medical care, including for the most isolated communities, MSF teams also support four health centers in Masisi, Nyabiondo, Muheto, Ngomashi. Our teams also regularly respond to outbreaks of cholera and measles, two endemic diseases in the area, which spread rapidly during frequent population movement. *

*Names have been changed

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

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On April 24, the Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission finalized a nationwide process to update voter lists ahead of general elections slated for December 2023. But as citizens headed to voter registration centers, some were met with violence and discrimination.

In Goma, Bukavu, Nyagenzi, and Uvira in eastern Congo, groups of youths threatened, beat, and temporarily denied Banyamulenge – Congolese Tutsi from South Kivu province – access to registration centers because of their ethnicity.

Human Rights Watch spoke to victims, witnesses, and community leaders who confirmed the incidents, including attacks by “Wazalendo,” youth groups mobilized to defend their South Kivu localities against armed groups, including M23 rebels.

Since a surge in attacks by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in 2022, parties to the conflict have increasingly appealed to ethnic prejudices, triggering a wave of discrimination against Banyamulenge and Tutsi communities, whom many in Congo consider to be M23 supporters.

A Munyamulenge man told us that Wazalendo beat him and three of his friends as they went to register at a center in Uvira on February 17. “They hurt my arms, they hit me with nails.… They told us, ‘Banyamulenge are Rwandans, they are not going to be registered.'” He was ultimately able to register after the police arrived. A university staffer in Nyagenzi said Wazalendo threw stones at him when he went to register so he went back home. He finally enrolled after police came four days later.  

Access to registration centers is essential for citizens to secure their voter's card, a necessary document for voting also used as an identification document in Congo.

As the elections near and the crisis in eastern Congo continues unabated, attacks against Banyamulenge and Tutsis may interfere with other national processes, including the long-awaited population census and identification process.

Congolese authorities should ensure inclusive elections without fear of discrimination or intimidation on ethnic grounds. They should implement comprehensive voter education campaigns aimed at preventing ethnic-based discrimination, impartially enforce the law and appropriately prosecute anyone who commits ethnically motivated harassment or attacks, and prohibit discriminatory practices that may lead to further abuses.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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More than 150 schools in North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been attacked by armed groups in escalating violence since the beginning of January , affecting the education of over 62,000 children, Save the Children said.

Armed groups have targeted schools, often burning desks and chairs as firewood, leaving children without a safe space to learn. 

Over 150 schools out of a total of around 6,800 schools** in the province have been attacked.  Eighteen schools are currently occupied by armed groups and 113 schools are being used as temporary shelter for internally displaced people, according to data from the DRC's education cluster, which is led by the Ministry of Education, Save the Children and UNICEF. 

North Kivu is one of the country's most conflict-affected provinces. Over the past year, close to one million people have been internally displaced due to violent clashes. Conflict has been raging in parts of the country for nearly three decades, and children are paying the heaviest price.

The attacks on schools in DRC are having a devastating impact on children's education, with about 4% of schools occupied or rendered unusable. 

Alphonsine*, 13, from  Nyiragongo, in North Kivu, left her village six months ago, and is now living in a camp for displaced people. Her school is currently occupied by armed groups. She said:

“One day I met our school headmaster and two of my friends in the camp. The headmaster said that our school was destroyed by bombs. The armed people occupying our school took away the doors and windows to sell them. The headmaster told us that we will take over the school only when the war will stop.”

Save the Children supports schools through partners in North Kivu with building repairs, teacher training, school kits, menstrual hygiene items, and cash transfers for vulnerable families. Four of the organisation's partner schools have been attacked by armed groups.  

Juliana*, 27, is a teacher at a Save the Children partner school in North Kivu, she said:

“Our school has been a battlefield. All the wooden school materials and benches were used as firewood by the armed groups that occupied our school. Students and teachers left the villages for safer places. I hope that peace will return so that I can resume work. I miss my students.”

Marc*, 45, is a headmaster at a Save the Children partner school in North Kivu, he said:

“When I think of all the support Save the Children gave to our school, and now almost everything has been destroyed, I am saddened. Classroom doors and windows taken away, school materials burnt, these armed men are attacking the future of the children. I ask the authorities to secure our environment, including schools, so that the right to education is always guaranteed.”

In addition to schools being damaged during attacks, countless children across the country are unable to attend school, as they are fleeing violence, and living in camps or makeshift accommodation, including school buildings.

Save the Children supports displaced families with food assistance, water, Children's Clubs and health support.

Alphonsine* added:

“When I fled, I had only taken a jumper to protect myself against the cold. My clothes, notebooks and school backpack were left behind.

“I come every day to the Child Friendly Space that Save the Children has created. We do karaoke, we play many other games.  I like coming to the space because I feel free. There is also food and we are given soaps or wipes to be clean.”

The DRC is one of the world's most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises, with 14.2 million in dire need of assistance. 

Amavi Akpamagbo, Country Director Save the Children in DRC said: 

“This year the North Kivu has seen a startling increase in violent attacks on communities, including schools, and as a result, children's right to education is under threat. Save the Children calls on the warring parties to establish their camps, storage and training sites away from schools, and for DRC's government to include school safety in upcoming peace talks.”

Save the Children has worked in the DRC since 1994 to meet humanitarian needs linked to the massive displacement of populations due to armed conflict in eastern provinces, especially in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri and Kasai-Oriental and Lomami in the centre of the country.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

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Flash floods and landslides in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on May 4 and 5 have killed almost 400 people and wounded at least 150. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has sent an emergency team to South Kivu's Kalehe territory—the worst-affected area.

Ulrich Crepin Namfeibona, emergency coordinator for MSF in South Kivu province gave the following statement:
The situation across various locations of the territory of Kalehe is catastrophic following the devastating floods and landslides that hit this area of South Kivu province. The catastrophe hit overnight, and, as Thursday was market day, the population in Bushushu was twice as large as usual.

Hundreds of people have died, many others remain missing, and about 150 wounded people have already been admitted to different health structures. Some villages have been completely [swept away by] the floods, including houses, fields, and livestock.

On Saturday May 6, [MSF] arrived with an emergency team to the two most heavily affected areas—the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi—to support the local authorities and the Ministry of Health. In Nyamukubi, around half of the village has been destroyed. Due to the floods, the main road between Nyamukubi and Kalehe is not [usable] anymore, which is hampering the arrival of humanitarian aid.

The most pressing need for MSF was to organize the evacuation of severely injured people to ensure they get timely and appropriate medical care. As of today, our team managed to refer 36 patients by boat to hospitals in Kalehe and Bukavu. We have also been donating body bags, medicines, and medical supplies to several health structures [that are] treating [injured] patients. We will continue to monitor the situation in the [coming] days to evaluate the medical and humanitarian needs.

Poor living and sanitation conditions in the aftermath of floods create high risk of disease—such as skin infections and diarrheal diseases—especially in this area close to Lake Kivu where cholera is endemic.

Shelter, food, and other basic [supplies] are urgently needed for these communities who have lost everything. We are also seeing children who have lost their parents and need protection.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).