UNHCR and Partners Seek $781M for DRC Refugee Crisis as Displacement Peaks

As the humanitarian emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) enters yet another year of catastrophic upheaval, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 107 partner organizations have issued a resounding appeal for $781 million to respond to the rapidly escalating displacement crisis. The funds, sought under the 2025 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), aim to provide essential protection, shelter, healthcare, and food to more than 1 million Congolese refugees and asylum-seekers across seven neighboring countries, as well as to over 1 million members of the host communities.

The updated appeal comes amid alarming developments in eastern DRC, where a surge in armed conflict since the beginning of 2025 has driven civilians from their homes at an unprecedented pace. According to the UNHCR, nearly 150,000 people have fled the DRC in just the first few months of the year—already exceeding the number of refugees who left the country in the entirety of 2024. Most of the displaced are fleeing from eastern provinces, plagued by brutal fighting and human rights violations, and are seeking refuge in countries like Burundi and Uganda.

Refugee Hosts Overstretched Amid Shrinking Support

The generosity of DRC’s neighbors has been unwavering. Countries including Angola, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia have kept their borders open and have continued to welcome Congolese refugees. Yet their capacity is being stretched to the breaking point. Overcrowded reception and transit centers are running low on basic supplies, water and sanitation infrastructure is overwhelmed, and healthcare facilities are under-equipped to respond to the needs of vulnerable arrivals.

“Once again, it is families, and particularly women and children, who are forced to run for their lives when violence prevails,” said Chansa Kapaya, UNHCR’s Regional Director for Southern Africa and the DRC refugee situation’s Regional Coordinator. “Host communities continue to show remarkable generosity by welcoming them, but they cannot respond alone.”

This crisis demands urgent international solidarity. The dire funding shortfall in 2024—when less than half the required support was received—forced humanitarian agencies to make painful decisions: cutting food assistance, reducing protection services, and scaling back support for survivors of sexual violence and other vulnerable groups.

Internally Displaced and Externally Forsaken

While the refugee outflow garners attention, the crisis within the DRC is even more staggering. As of late 2024, a record 7.8 million people were internally displaced—many of them multiple times due to the shifting frontlines of violence. The eastern regions of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri remain the epicenter of conflict, where militia groups, intercommunal violence, and state fragility have converged to devastate civilian life.

Entire villages have been razed, livelihoods destroyed, and communities shattered. Reports of egregious human rights abuses—ranging from sexual violence and forced recruitment to arbitrary killings—are widespread. The consequences are particularly severe for women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, many of whom cross borders in dire need of psychological support, medical care, and protection from further harm.

Toward Immediate Relief and Lasting Solutions

The 2025 RRP outlines an urgent humanitarian agenda. Top priorities include expanding emergency shelter and transit facilities, scaling up food aid and clean water access, strengthening healthcare systems, and ensuring protection services for those most at risk.

At the same time, the plan emphasizes a longer-term vision centered on social cohesion, inclusion, and resilience. Host countries need support not just to provide aid, but to invest in sustainable development, education, and livelihoods for both refugee and host populations.

This year’s RRP works in concert with the broader Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for the DRC, launched in February 2025, which focuses on the 7.8 million internally displaced persons and other conflict-affected communities within the country. Together, the two frameworks represent a strategic, coordinated response to one of the world’s most urgent and underfunded humanitarian disasters.

The Cost of Inaction: A Warning from the Front Lines

Kapaya warned of the stark consequences if the funding gap remains unaddressed: “Without increased funding, frontline partners will face impossible choices, such as shutting down health services, cutting food assistance, or leaving survivors of sexual violence without support.”

Indeed, history has shown that when protection fails in one location, desperate people will continue seeking safety elsewhere—often through perilous and life-threatening journeys.

The call to action is clear: the international community must rally in support of those displaced by the DRC crisis—not only with compassion but with the resources necessary to save lives, restore dignity, and foster stability.