Ongoing fighting and recurrent natural disasters in DRC have displaced around 5,8 million people in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Many of those who have been displaced are living in overcrowded sites and collective shelters, increasing women and girls’ risks of unintended pregnancies, unattended obstetrical complications, maternal deaths, unmet basic needs and gender-based violence.

Around 7,4 million people need health assistance in the east of the country, where the health system is at breaking point as a result of overlapping outbreaks of COVID-19, measles, polio, meningitis, and monkey pox. Yellow fever, cholera and malaria are all on the rise due to a lack of access to safe water and sanitation for those on the move.

On 16 June 2023, an IASC SystemWide Scale-Up was activated for eastern DRC to strengthen the response of humanitarian actors.