D. R. Congo

+++ On February 13, 2024, rebels announced the takeover of the town of Sake in the eastern province of North Kivu. Since then, more than 135,000 people have fled the resulting violence to the nearby provincial capital of Goma, which already housed almost 700,000 refugees. Welthungerhilfe operates in North Kivu and in Goma in particular. We are currently able to continue our work, but are monitoring the tense security situation very closely. +++ The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's second-largest country by area and slightly more than six times larger than Germany. Due to its wealth of natural resources, the country could be one of the richest on the continent, but of its 105,6 million inhabitants, more than 70 percent live below the poverty line. Political instability, wars, violence and corruption characterize everyday life. Health crises such as serious outbreaks of Ebola, measles, cholera and the Covid-19 pandemic also make life difficult for the population. Welthungerhilfe's work focuses on sustainable agricultural and economic development, resilience building, food security, water, health, sanitation (WASH) and emergency aid.