Conflict in DR Congo: What’s happening & how to help

Fighting in eastern DR Congo has rapidly escalated in 2025, displacing hundreds of thousands as humanitarian needs skyrocket.

Leila Rafei

February 20 2025, 1:00pm

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams working in DRC are witnessing how this latest escalation of violence is impacting people’s lives and compounding the humanitarian crisis, particularly in camps where displaced people are sheltering. As the conflict continues to unfold, here’s what to know about what’s happening in eastern DRC and how to help.

DR Congo at a glance

Displacement

8.4 million

people are internally displaced across DRC today, including 500,000 displaced by the current escalation in the east

Facts about DR Congo

1 Second-largest country in Africa, about the size of Western Europe

2 One of five conflict zones with the highest numbers of serious violations against children

3 75 percent of the population live on less than $2.15 per day

4 Childhood…