Ensuring Women’s Protection Amid Rising Conflict in Eastern DRC – Democratic Republic of the Congo

By Devon Cone , Abdullahi Boru Halakhe | April 5, 2024

Executive Summary

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and especially the eastern part of the country, has endured decades of conflict, pitting government forces against rebel groups. The latest cycle of conflict between the government forces and M23 rebels has pushed about 1 million people to Goma—the capital and the largest city of the North Kivu Province. They are hosted in overcrowded camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) without adequate food, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, or education. Women have borne the brunt of the conflict, with belligerents accused of using sexual violence as a weapon of war. Due to many factors, including significant cuts in food assistance, gender-based violence (GBV) cases have increased five-fold over the last year, and M23 has encircled Goma—a humanitarian hub. The risk of Goma falling to Rwanda-backed M23, and the planned withdrawal of a 25-year-long UN peacekeeping mission at the end of April, could have devastating consequences for the safety of people throughout the region. The situation is deteriorating quickly due to decreased humanitarian funding and inadequate coordination across various humanitarian clusters. Women and girls face the greatest protection risks.

The departure of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) will embolden rebels like M23 because the Congolese authorities have proven they are ill-suited to maintain security once MONUSCO departs adequately. The Congolese security forces have a long history of egregious human rights violations. Against such a background and fluid security situation, closing the UN peacekeeping mission without sustainably addressing the underlying drivers of fragility and conflict could lead to more intercommunal conflict and a more profound humanitarian crisis.

Influential entities, including the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), together with the UN Security Council, France, and the United States, should embark on a robust diplomatic and political process to halt M23’s Goma takeover and find a sustainable political solution to the protracted humanitarian crisis. The Nairobi and Luanda Processes need to be revitalized with support from the UN Security Council, which should use all its powers, including sanctions on individuals and countries destabilizing the DRC, and extend MONUSCO’s term in consultation with the DRC government.

In the meantime, donors should increase funding for the DRC’s Humanitarian Response Plan, especially for programs addressing GBV. Humanitarian actors should prioritize cluster coordination to address displacement holistically, given the linkages between the lack of humanitarian aid and the resurgence of GBV cases. The DRC’s protracted crisis induces an understandable fatigue among aid actors and donors. However, ignoring the DRC crisis at this critical stage will create a far more dire protection crisis.