OCHA highlighted the obstacles faced in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, which are under control by several areas by armed groups.

OCHA further pointed to lack of funding as a problem affecting the distribution of aid, but said in a report that shrinking humanitarian space is the primary operational challenge.

They added that humanitarian assistance is more focused on crises deriving from the displaced people, who escape armed conflicts, a scenario that plays to the detriment of interventions related to floods or food insecurity.

According to the UN Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in the DRC, Bruno Lemarquis, funds for the 2024 humanitarian response plan only reach 35 percent, “which means hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are being left behind.”

Meanwhile, President Felix Tshisekedi on his keynote address at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, detailed the country has about seven million internally displaced people due to conflict.

Ied/omr/lam/kmg