With ongoing fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) severely restricting the delivery of aid, ActionAid called for urgent action to secure humanitarian corridors so that aid workers can safely reach displaced communities.
Yakubu Mohammed Saani, Country Director for ActionAid in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said:
“For years we’ve faced crisis after crisis in the DRC, but this latest wave of violence has plunged an already urgent humanitarian situation into a nightmare scenario. Goma has long been a place where people came to find safety. But now even Goma isn’t safe. So where do people go now? They’re giving up hope. Some people are not even bothering to leave, thinking they may as well die in their homes rather than go somewhere else to be killed. There is nowhere safe left to go.
Millions of people who fled to escape the violence are now trapped in desperate conditions, without food, water or medical care to treat their injuries. The humanitarian needs are staggering, yet aid organizations like ours are struggling to reach those in need due to ongoing violence. Our humanitarian workers are unable to leave their homes. This severely affects our ability to deliver essential aid to communities in crisis.
Without safe, unhindered access, vital supplies – food, medicine and shelter – we cannot reach those who need it. The international community must act urgently to secure humanitarian corridors and pressure all parties to respect aid operations.”
ENDS
Spokespeople available include:
- Yakubu Mohammed Saani, Country Director – Based in the capital Kinshasa
- Grace Nshokano, Humanitarian Project Coordinator – Based in Bukavu (having left Goma recently)
For media requests, please email christal.james@actionaid.org or call 7046659743.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.
