Uncertainties about elections at the end of December and a fl urry of crises on top of a protracted humanitarian situation made 2018 a challenging year for UNFPA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The country experienced two Ebola outbreaks, cholera and deadly community confl icts in Ituri, Maï-Ndombe and Tanganika that left hundreds of thousands of people internally displaced in several provinces, including pregnant women and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). In this context, the UNFPA Country Offi ce maintained sexual and reproductive health as a priority in the development and humanitarian response agenda, and planted new seeds for progress towards women and adolescent girls’ empowerment, protection and dignity.