PHR’s medical partners in DRC report recent surges of violence, displacement, malnutrition, infectious disease, and sexual violence
October 28, 2025 – As leaders from Africa’s Great Lakes region and around the world meet in Paris this week to address the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) warns of an escalating humanitarian and health crisis, including immense violence, mass displacement, infectious disease, and acute malnutrition.
Conflict related sexual violence is also surging in the region, with more than 11,000 new cases of sexual violence since February 2025 reported by PHR’s partners in DRC – a 31 percent increase since the same time last year. These figures likely represent only a fraction of the full scale of violations.
Ongoing negotiations toward a cessation of hostilities between the governments of DRC, Rwanda, the M23 militia, and other international actors, has failed to stem the brutal violence that continues to devastate communities across North Kivu, Ituri, and South Kivu. Widespread insecurity and restricted humanitarian access, compounded by recent cuts to U.S. foreign aid, have further deteriorated conditions on the ground. More than seven million people in eastern DRC are now internally displaced, the highest figure in the country’s recent history, while malnutrition and infectious disease rates are surging.
“Despite claims by President Trump claims that he has brought peace to DRC, the war continues and millions of civilians are suffering,” said Karen Naimer, JD, LLM, director of programs at PHR. “This week’s diplomatic negotiations in Paris offer potential paths toward de-escalation, but millions of civilians need immediate humanitarian assistance. International and regional actors must make concrete commitments in Paris to address these crises.”
Prolonged instability has disrupted vital supply chains and weakened health and surveillance systems on the ground in DRC. The continued closure of the airport in Goma, a major transportation hub that services much of the region, is further exacerbating access to life-saving supplies and medicines. PHR’s medical partners in eastern DRC have shared that the lack of safe corridors for humanitarian support and deterioration of infrastructure has resulted in shortages of medical supplies, medicines, and vaccines.
PHR’s research has shown that recent cuts in U.S. global health and humanitarian funding and other reduced donor support have further constrained operations for many life-saving programs. This reduced funding and capacity is leading to interruptions to HIV, tuberculosis, and reproductive health programs, reversing years of progress. DRC clinicians have also reported the unchecked spread of cholera, mpox, and measles exacerbated by interruptions in medicine supply chains.
A local physician in the city of Butembo, North Kivu, told PHR that the current lack of access to antiretrovirals and condoms is likely contributing to the increase in local HIV cases, as they have seen more than 663 cases of new infections in 2025, compared to 200-300 seen in previous years. The combined impact of violence, insecurity, lack of humanitarian access, and funding shortfalls threatens to collapse already fragile health systems in conflict-affected provinces.
The crisis has also driven widespread food insecurity and acute malnutrition, notably in North Kivu and South Kivu. In South Kivu alone, over 4 million people are food insecure. A local physician in Butembo, North Kivu told PHR that insecurity in rural agricultural areas is leading to high rates of malnutrition. Further impacts on nutrition in DRC are expected as the World Food Program, has been forced to reduce its assistance this month to 600,000 people, down from a planned 2.3 million, due to severe funding concerns. The WFP has warned that a complete pipeline break in assistance is possible by February 2026. Without consistent humanitarian access and funding, the risk of famine-like conditions will increase dramatically, further undermining maternal and child health outcomes.
Conflict-related sexual violence, which is prohibited under international law and fully applies to state and non-state actors, remains one of the gravest protection crises in the DRC as the absence of effective accountability mechanisms aggravates cycles of violence. Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected (94 percent of reported cases, according to a PHR partner on the ground) and subjected to sexual violence by armed actors, often with limited access to medical or psychosocial support. The UN Joint Human Rights Office (JHRO) reports a 152 percent increase in sexual violence since the capture of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025.
Sexual violence survivors face significant barriers to care, stigma, and limited access to justice, while local health facilities remain overstretched and under-resourced. Less than half of survivors who come forward for care are able to receive post-exposure treatment within the recommended 72-hour period, one humanitarian organization operating in eastern DRC informed PHR. One physician told PHR that survivors are afraid to go to hospitals which are usually in large cities, for fear of reprisals from combatants from opposing forces. While PHR’s partners are reporting thousands of survivors seeking care after incidents of sexual violence, these figures likely represent only a fraction of the full scale of such violations.
”This ‘polycrisis’ of immense violence, mass displacement, surging infectious disease, and acute malnutrition means the international community must act urgently to avert a deepening humanitarian catastrophe and to facilitate a sustainable cessation of hostilities in DRC,” said Naimer.
PHR calls on the international community to stabilize funding and open safe humanitarian corridors to ensure continuity of life-saving medical services, supplies, and food, along with the following recommendations:
Establish and maintain secure humanitarian corridors in conflict-affected areas to enable the delivery of life-saving medical supplies, food, and humanitarian assistance and protection services to civilians.
Ensure clinicians are protected and sufficiently resourced to provide critical medical care and treatment, and to manage and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Ensure access to free survivor-centered post-rape care medical, psychosocial, and legal services.
Urge national authorities and armed groups to reduce impacts on civilians and uphold international humanitarian law.
Ensure that any cessation of hostilities includes a mechanism to pursue accountability, justice, and redress for atrocities committed by all sides of the conflict.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations.