UN News Today 30 January 2025 |

DR Congo crisis: Emergency is worsening by the hour, warn humanitarians

The humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is worsening by the hour as violence around Goma escalates.

That’s the latest from the UN World Food Programme, WFP, which said in an alert on Thursday that families continue to be displaced and food shortages persist, because of disruption to supply routes.

“Roads are blocked, ports are closed and those crossing Lake Kivu risk their lives in makeshift boats,” WFP warned once again, as M23 rebel fighters remained in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern DR Congo.

According to reports, the Rwanda-backed rebels are also moving south towards eastern DRC’s second city, Bukavu, with the Congolese president pledging to halt their advance.

UN aid coordinators OCHA warn that violence and looting in Goma have disrupted humanitarian aid and endangered workers.

And OCHA said that since January, there have been more than 2,000 injuries from weapons and shrapnel.

“Water and electricity remain cut off, and Goma’s airport closure has halted aid deliveries. Urgent action is needed to restore services and protect humanitarian efforts,” the UN agency insisted.

Aid workers from UNRWA condemn their ‘eviction’ by Israel from East Jerusalem base

As the Knesset ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, entered into force on Thursday, staff effectively forced to leave their base in East Jerusalem condemned the move and insisted that it would prevent vulnerable people from getting the help they need.

The development follows Israeli accusations that UNRWA workers were involved in the 7 October attacks that sparked the war in Gaza. Nine staff were sacked after an internal UN investigation for possible involvement.

UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said that the 70,000 people who until now have received free healthcare from the UN agency in East Jerusalem cannot afford anything else. “These people need us. They need these services,” he told UN News:

“It’s like a nightmare scenario. And it’s also completely outlandish that a member state of the United Nations system would choose to undo the mandate of an organization which – let’s not forget – is mandated by the UN General Assembly -so, you know, the international community – to do a job of work to provide services, essentially education and healthcare to Palestine refugees, in the absence of a just and lasting solution to their plight.”

Mr. Fowler said that visas for international staff such as himself to work in East Jerusalem ran out on Wednesday 29 January – a day before the Israeli ban entered into force. The move is “tantamount to being evicted”, he said.

Full interview here: 

Syria: Hostilities and aid challenges persist across devastated country

To Syria, where humanitarians warned on Thursday that there are still major security and humanitarian challenge – particularly in the northeast – in the uncertain aftermath of the overthrow of the Assad regime.

In an update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 25,000 people have been newly uprooted from the northeastern city of Manbij, where shelling and airstrikes have been reported.

OCHA noted that hostilities have been intensifying over the past week, particularly in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam.

The dam is a key target for different groups of Syrian fighters vying for control of northern Syria. These include the reportedly Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

As a result of the escalating violence, the number of newly displaced people has reached more than 650,000.

The deadly incidents reported in Syria’s northeast include shelling that struck a town in the Manbij countryside on 25 January, injuring an unverified number of children.

In the past week, OCHA, has also reported clashes in Syria’s Coastal Area and continuing Israeli incursions into the Golan buffer zone – patrolled by UN peacekeepers – that the Israeli military moved into, following the ouster of President Assad’s regime.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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