Read the transcript of the story As violence and protests flare in Congo, humanitarians say more money is needed to help those displaced by the unrest there. “This is 30 years of crisis and poverty that just goes further into an abyss,” Dominic Hyde of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told The Current host Peter Armstrong. “The country is among the most underfunded businesses in the world.” The the violence continues now it stems from protests by people who want the United Nations to leave the country after the UN’s years-long peacekeeping mission there has failed to end violence by armed groups. Protesters in late July set fires and forced their way into the offices of the UN mission in Goma, accusing peacekeepers of failing to protect civilians amid rising violence in Congo’s eastern region. Unrest in the Congo – the country formerly known as Zaire – has been going on for decades. In recent protests, at least 15 people have been killed and dozens more injured during protests against UN peacekeeping efforts. Congolese soldiers try to control a crowd of protesters during a protest against the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO in Goma on July 26, 2022. (Michel Lunanga/AFP/Getty Images) Amavi Akpamagbo sees the impact of this on the ground. He is the director of Save the Children in Congo and says children are being held, killed and sexually abused by armed groups. He says the country is not even seeing the amount of humanitarian funding it needs.
“The needs of [Congo] are huge and Save the Children is only able to meet a fraction of these needs with the resources available,” said Akpamagbo. And he says it’s not just because of violence. The country faces diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola and Measlesas well as natural disasters, incl the volcanic eruption that killed at least 15 people last year. Residents check damage caused by lava from the overnight eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in Buhene, on the outskirts of Goma, Congo, early Sunday, May 23, 2021. (Justin Kabumba/The Associated Press)

Protracted conflict

For years, rebel groups in the country’s mineral-rich east have terrorized the region. Despite the efforts of the UN and the Ugandan and Congolese armies, the rebel groups remain. Civilians in the east have also had to deal with violence from insurgent jihadists linked to the Islamic State group. Nelleke Van De Walle, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, says the Congolese army is not capable of protecting its people on its own. Wini Azuki, a 30-year-old South Sudanese refugee widow in Ngota camp, supports her children by selling produce she grows on her plot. (Guerchom Ndebo/UNHCR) “I think the army is weak, it’s not well equipped, it’s disorganized,” Van De Walle said. “And it’s often part of the problem because we know that there are very close ties between a number of military commanders and the rebel groups that are active in the east.” The protests are taking place as fighting has escalated between Congolese troops and rebels, forcing nearly 200,000 people to flee their homes.

Support is required

Hyde says that due to underfunding, 82 percent of evacuees cannot get adequate housing, forcing people to sleep wherever they can. “This is a place where sexual violence is rampant and a locked door can make a difference,” Hyde said. And he says it goes further than that. He recently visited Bunya, the capital of Congo’s Ituri province, and met people affected by the violence. “There wasn’t a single IDP I met in Bunya who hadn’t suffered the loss of a family member or, in the case of the women, who had been a victim of sexual violence,” Hyde said. “We do our best to provide mental health or psychosocial support. But the underfunding is so terrible that we can only cover the bare minimum.” UNHCR Director of External Relations Dominique Hyde meets Wini Azuki, a 30-year-old refugee widow from South Sudan in Ngota camp, near Aru in the Democratic Republic of Congo, during a four-day visit to the country in July . (Guerchom Ndebo/UNHCR) Another impact is education. Hyde says only 16 percent of South Sudanese refugee children, who in recent years have fled their country because of the violence there, can attend primary school as a result of underfunding, and cannot support anyone who tries to go in secondary school. “The impact of this will last a lifetime on these kids,” Hyde said. He says if more isn’t done now, it’s only going to get worse. “I think we’re going to see further displacement not just within the country … We’re going to see that displacement move to other border countries that are also having quite a bit of trouble,” Hyde said. “I think what you’re going to see is exactly what we’ve been seeing for the last few months: an increase in the deterioration of the security situation that will increase the violence.” Written by Philip Drost with files from The Associated Press. Produced by Niza Lyapa Nondo.