Democratic Republic of Congo

In just two weeks, more than 670 victims of sexual violence have been treated by Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams in camps for displaced people around Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, representing 48 new victims per day. These shocking figures reflect the extreme vulnerability and risk of violence faced by displaced people in the area. Nearly 60% of the victims were attacked less than 72 hours before coming to MSF clinics, illustrating the urgency of the situation.

While Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) have been involved in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention activities since the mid-1990s, the first MSF treatment centre opened its doors back in 2002 in Kinshasa.

Following an outbreak of violence in the provinces of Mai-Ndombe and Kwilu in August, MSF head of mission Alessandra Giudiceandrea spent several weeks in the region as part of MSF’s emergency response. She describes her shock at witnessing the aftermath of the violence, her frustration at the difficulties of mobilising other humanitarian organisations, and her unease at the security-based approach to resolving this crisis.

Four months after a convoy of vehicles belonging to international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières came under fire by unidentified armed men in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MSF has announced that it will close its projects in Nizi and Bambu due to a lack of security guarantees from all parties to the conflict.

MSF teams have been working in Salamabila since late 2019 in support of the Ministry of Health. One of their priorities is to provide free-of-charge medical care and psychological support to survivors of sexual violence. MSF teams provided treatment and mental health support to an average of 169 survivors of sexual violence each month at Salamabila general hospital, and a total of 1,800 survivors over the course of the year 2021 across Salamabila health zone.

SORT IT aims to strengthen the operational research capacity of MSF project staff. For the first time, LuxOR will provide an edition entirely taught in French.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left displaced, and over half a million in the city of Goma have been left without access to clean drinking water, following the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Measles is once again on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The recent upsurge in cases – more than 13,000 since January 1st – is a major source of concern for MSF.

Self-injectable options can overcome barriers to contraception in DRC.

Less than a year after the end of two Ebola outbreaks in the country, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces the 12th Ebola outbreak in hits history

Unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has forced thousands to flee their homes. Many are in remote and under-resourced areas of South Kivu.

Following yet another violent incident in Salamabila, in the DRC's eastern Maniema province, MSF is calling on other humanitarian entities in the country to take action and strengthen protection services for people in this area.

The Ebola outbreak in Équateur province, northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has come to an end almost six months after it started thanks to an improved approach to patient care.

In an interview, Guyguy Manangama who is leading MSF's Ebola response in Équateur province, describes the eleventh outbreak, which has lower levels of mortality than the previous outbreak.

“Djapan” * is 30 years old and works as a community health educator for MSF at the displaced persons’ site of the Drodro parish, in the Ituri province. Here is his testimony.

Since March 2020, and the first Covid-19 notified case in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MSF has been supporting the medical response, particularly in Nizi, Angumu and Drodro.

On 1 June 2020, a new Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak was declared in Equateur province, western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country’s eleventh recorded epidemic.

Paediatric nurse Vera Schmitz was part of an MSF team that was vaccinating thousands of children against a deadly measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the shadow of a new threat from COVID-19.

A surge in violence in the two months since April has seen nearly 200,000 people displaced from their homes in Ituri province, northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), say MSF teams working in the region.

Overshadowed by outbreaks of Ebola last year and by COVID-19 today, the measles epidemic in DRC continues to kill children every day.