Introduction
Amid conflict, poverty, malnutrition and recurring disease outbreaks, humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are among the highest in the world.
The 2025 UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for the DRC requires €2.19 billion to meet the needs of over 21 million people across the country, with these numbers expected to rise as the conflict in the East deteriorates. Following the reprioritisation of the Humanitarian Response Plan, only 6.8 million people could be targeted, requiring €1.47 billion, of which only 23% has been funded to date.
Facts & figures
The EU continues to provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable, often people displaced by conflict, epidemics or natural hazards.
27 million people severely food insecure- 4.45 million children under 5 faced elevated levels of acute malnutrition between July 2024 and June 2025
7.3 million internally displaced people- including 5.7 million in the eastern provinces
- over 1 million refugees from the DRC in neighbouring countries
- over 500,000 refugees in the DRC
What are the needs?
People in eastern DRC have faced persistent conflict and violence for decades. Forced to flee their homes time and again, the most vulnerable are forced to rebuild their lives repeatedly and seek for safety in:
- overcrowded family homes
- makeshift camps
- schools or churches
Since January 2025, intensified conflict in the east has led to over 2.1 million new displacements, including nearly 1 million children. The eastern provinces host 5.71 million displaced persons (OCHA, August 2025), 90% of whom are located in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. More than 1 million Congolese refugees live in neighbouring countries, while the DRC also hosts over 500,000 refugees from the region.
Violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are reported every day, such as:
- attacks on schools and health structures forced recruitment of children
- physical violence and abductions
- extortion and looting
- killings and torture
- widespread conflict-related sexual violence
Conflict, displacement and restricted access to land and markets continue to fuel acute food insecurity. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification IPC analysis, 27.7 million people are experiencing severe food insecurity (IPC Phase 3+), including 3.9 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). The 4 eastern provinces account for the largest share of affected households, with IDPs particularly vulnerable.
In addition, the DRC continues to face recurrent epidemics, such as:
- cholera
- measles,
- Mpox
- Ebola
Its weak health system coupled with lack of basic infrastructure and social services, including in the health sector, further exacerbates humanitarian needs.
In the west of the country, particularly in Maï-Ndombe, intercommunal violence since 2022 has spread into neighbouring provinces, causing population displacement and civilian casualties, showing that humanitarian needs extend beyond the eastern provinces often in the spotlight.
Finally, the DRC often bears the brunt of recurrent large-scale natural hazards, including devastating floods and volcanic eruptions. These affect and often displace hundreds of thousands of people.
How are we helping?
In 2025, the EU has allocated €112 million in humanitarian aid to the DRC, including additional emergency funding in response to the deteriorating situation in the East and the epidemic outbreaks (cholera, Ebola). In parallel, the EU has provided €8 million to support the regional refugee crisis, including Congolese refugees in Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The EU was the second largest donor for the humanitarian response in the DRC in 2024, and is the first one so far in 2025.
Most of the EU-funded humanitarian projects are helping vulnerable people in the east of the country, where persistent conflict is ongoing. The EU works with partners to:
- provide food assistance and nutrition, shelter, protection, emergency healthcare, including care for survivors of sexual violence
- improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions
- ensure that children caught in humanitarian crises can go to school.
Through its Humanitarian Air Flight, the EU also provides air support to humanitarian organisations, enabling them to deliver aid to people in hard-to-reach areas.
In 2025, the EU has allocated more than €8 million for the EU Humanitarian Aid Flights (EUHAF) in the DRC.
‘In an epidemic like this, we need materials quickly — and the EU and UN Humanitarian Air Service made that possible,’ said Dr Abdallah with a sigh of relief.
Meet Dr Abdallah, A lifeline to Bulape: fighting Ebola from the sky
In 2025, to respond to the rising humanitarian needs in eastern DRC, the EU organised a Humanitarian Air Bridge operation which has transported more than 500 tonnes of essential medical and nutritional supplies by plane to Nairobi and onwards by road from Nairobi to Goma.
The EU’s support also allows humanitarian organisations with specific expertise in nutrition to work in areas that have alarming malnutrition levels, saving the lives of thousands of children.
Last updated: 18/11/2025