Oxfam Reaction to IPC Hunger Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo

“These latest figures show that conflict–driven hunger gripping the country continues to deteriorate, with 1.7 million more people without enough food compared to the end of last year. While the numbers are slightly lower than earlier projections, too many people are facing severe hunger.

“The eastern side of the country - the epicenter of the conflict - remains one of the areas worst affected by hunger, with nearly half a million people already in desperate need of life-saving assistance, such as food, clean water and shelter.

“The impact of aid cuts to life-saving programs continues to have a catastrophic impact. USAID was the leading donor in the country and most aid agencies relied on its funding to help people survive and rebuild their lives. Without it, agencies have been forced to make terrible triage decisions including who gets to live and who might needlessly die.

“The world cannot continue to look the other way - the situation is dire. Oxfam is calling on international partners to urgently scale up funding, to both alleviate immediate suffering and address the long-term food security needs.”

Note to editors

• Oxfam is helping over 670,000 people in eastern DRC with food, clean water, sanitation, cash assistance as well as hygiene kits for women and girls.
• The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published today on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) shows that 26.5 million people are experiencing hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above), including nearly 3.6 million in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4).
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was the leading humanitarian donor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2024, USAID report indicated that it provided over $838 million in Fiscal Year 2024 alone, which includes $414 million specifically for humanitarian needs resulting from ongoing conflict and displacement

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