North Kivu province, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been devastated by almost 30 years of conflict.

In the last two years, an upsurge in armed conflict has forced more than 1.6 million people to flee their homes.

Since the end of 2023, this new escalation of the conflict has once again caused entire populations to flee their homes: 230,000 people to Goma and over 70,000 to the neighbouring province of South Kivu. Many are now living in informal displacement sites in severely overcrowded conditions where they lack basic sanitation, water and food.

New mass displacements have further aggravated the already dire living conditions in the sites, severely increasing the risk of water-borne diseases, disease outbreaks, sexual violence, as well as physical violence as the fighting moves closer.