LONDON, United Kingdom — In January 2025, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) escalated when the armed group M23 began advancing in North Kivu. Charities in the region are facing mounting difficulties in delivering aid, especially as access and security deteriorate along shifting frontlines. Both Oxfam and War Child are providing essential, if different, forms of support. Despite growing obstacles, both are optimistic about expanding their operations, even as the humanitarian crisis in DRC worsens.
The fighting in the DRC has been ongoing since the 1990s, but renewed violence in North and South Kivu Provinces has triggered a new humanitarian crisis in the DRC. Fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels has splintered the region, making aid delivery and support to the millions displaced even more difficult. On top of this, charities are still reeling from the impact of USAID cuts, which came into effect earlier this year and significantly reduced their operational scope.
Operational Risks in North Kivu
One of the major challenges for charities in Eastern DRC is operating within an escalating conflict zone. Constantly changing frontlines and restrictions on access have made aid work increasingly difficult.
The Borgen Project spoke to Dr Manengi Mangundu, Oxfam’s Director for DRC, in February 2025, shortly after M23’s capture of Goma. He explained the challenge of adapting to the closure of Goma’s airport and the added security protocols.
In May 2025, he said, “It is still challenging. Supplies like medical drugs and other necessities are challenging to directly supply to Goma because there are no flights from Kinshasa into Goma. So it’s still a big challenge.”
Oxfam, which has worked in the country since 1961, focuses on essentials like clean water, food and restoring critical infrastructure to help prevent disease outbreaks.
Although M23 currently allows humanitarian groups to operate in occupied areas, Dr Mangundu notes fresh challenges inside these zones: “The challenge that we are seeing now is the continuous fighting between various other armed groups with M23. So sometimes during active fighting, we are not able to reach our people where we are working.”
Security Concerns
Security is also a growing concern for charities operating in and around displacement camps. War Child, which works primarily with children, is directly impacted.
Ashlea Brewer, its advisor for the DRC, explained: “The proximity of this conflict to camps, to displacement camps in and around Goma and other programming areas, that put everyone at risk.” More than 6 million people are facing internal displacement in the DRC, which makes working in these camps indispensable to humanitarian work, regardless of security risks. War Child works on expanding its work, especially around the issue of recruitment.
Tackling Child Soldiers in Eastern DRC
The use of child soldiers stretches back to the Congo wars of the 1990s, but recruitment remains a serious concern today. Save the Children reports that armed groups recruited more than 400 children in January and February 2025 alone. It’s a key issue that War Child seeks to address.
Ashlea Brewer explained one part of the organization’s response: “We do something called identification, documentation, tracing, reunifying children, so you will find that children are at risk of separation, which puts them at risk of exploitation and abuse during displacement and during conflict.”
War Child’s work also focuses on prevention. “We work to establish child-friendly spaces, and that is something we would like to do more of in DRC. We already have eight of these spaces that are up and running… we have got 3,000 children at the moment using these spaces,” Brewer told me.
These spaces play a vital role near displacement camps, where the risk of recruitment is highest. They are a direct response to the shifting needs within the wider humanitarian crisis in DRC.
The Impact of USAID Cuts
Around the world, charities are recovering from the impact that cuts to USAID had on their work. In 2023, the program spent $44 billion on supporting humanitarian assistance worldwide. The latest cuts were announced in February 2025, just as the humanitarian crisis in the DRC was intensifying.
Dr Mangundu explained that 70% of the emergency response funding in eastern DRC came from the US government. “We lost 13.5 million US dollars. [We lost] the project that was supporting more than 700,000 internally displaced people. In the process, we lost 44 of our staff members, who have the competence and skills which were really needed to support the people who the war affected,” he said.
Ashlea Brewer also pointed out that while USAID was a key donor, the problem is broader: “The U.N. response is massively underfunded…we are seeing gaps in what we would like to do just because there is not the funding, but that has been the case for a long time in DRC.” She believed this was consistent across the sector.
Humanitarian Crisis in the DRC: Looking Ahead
Despite the setbacks, charities in the DRC remain determined to continue their work. Oxfam is collaborating with 17 local organisations to meet urgent needs, while War Child is working to scale up its programmes.
“We have still been able to reach more than 10,000 people just since the latest escalation, just since this year, and we are in a position now to sort of start scaling up and navigate those challenges,” Brewer said.
She described the work as “ambitious” and “really successful in the last few months,” despite the clear strain on resources.
The humanitarian crisis in the DRC shows no sign of easing. But for now, charities on the ground are holding the line, continuing to deliver vital services to those who need them most.
– Charley Dennis
Charley is based in London, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.
Photo: War Child