The latest clashes in and around Goma, the capital city of North Kivu, have forced hundreds of thousands of people in the city to flee, leaving everything behind. In addition, nearly 300,000 people who had been taking refuge in camps for displaced people on the outskirts of Goma also had to flee the fighting, which left hundreds of bodies strewn in the streets. The ICRC is helping the DRC Red Cross to recover the bodies in Goma safely and with dignity.
“We are very worried. Many of these people were already in a very vulnerable situation, having been forced from their homes elsewhere in North and South Kivu, sometimes repeatedly,” said Grégoire Mateso Mbuta, president of the DRC Red Cross. “The humanitarian situation is dire in Bukavu and Goma. In Goma, the morgues and hospitals are overwhelmed. Around 190 DRC Red Cross volunteers and a team of coordinators are working tirelessly to recover the bodies left in the streets, take measures to prevent epidemics and give the victims a dignified burial. In the face of so much need, more help must be provided urgently.”
Volunteers from North and South Kivu are already hard at work providing this help. At the same time, the regional representatives of the DRC Red Cross are meeting to decide on, plan and coordinate their activities in collaboration with their partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and with the political and administrative authorities and other organizations.
Many people have been wounded by the fighting and heavy artillery fire in such a densely populated area. In January 2025, ICRC-supported medical facilities in North and South Kivu treated around 1,400 wounded people – ten times more than in December 2024. Most were civilians and many were women and children.
“Power lines were damaged, which left Goma without water and electricity. It is imperative that parties to the conflict abide by international humanitarian law and spare civilians and civilian objects. Health-care services must be respected and protected. In particular, the location of important laboratories, health centres and hospitals must be taken into account in the planning and conduct of hostilities,” said François Moreillon, the head of the ICRC’s delegation in the DRC.
Many families have been separated in the chaos as they fled and are waiting anxiously to hear from loved ones they have lost contact with. The ICRC and local Red Cross volunteers are working together to help put these people back in touch and find out where they are and if they are well.
The armed conflict’s return in October 2023 has resulted in a complex and unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The latest escalation, at the end of last year, has seen extraordinarily fierce fighting, causing unbearable suffering for thousands of people, who are urgently in need of life-saving aid.
Since February 2024, the IFRC has been supporting the DRC Red Cross’s emergency operations to provide displaced people in eastern DRC with shelter, essential household items, cash-as-aid, health care, access to water, sanitation and hygiene, and other humanitarian services. The IFRC has also been supporting the National Society’s food aid programme, which since January 2025, has already helped nearly 95,000 displaced people and host families in North Kivu. However, already chronic food insecurity may get worse as the conflict intensifies.
“There are already so many people struggling to meet their most basic needs. The longer the fighting goes on and the more it spreads, the more people will be affected and the harder it will be for them. The DRC Red Cross, the ICRC and the IFRC will continue providing vital aid to affected people, whether in urban or rural areas. But to do so, we need to ensure that our teams can work safely. Safe access should also be given to the other humanitarian organizations, so that they can provide essential aid that people so desperately need.”
In addition to helping the DRC Red Cross recover the bodies of victims in Goma and Bukavu safely, properly and with dignity, the ICRC is also helping restore essential services, such as water and electricity, that went down because of the fighting. People who have lost contact with loved ones can also make free phone calls through the ICRC. The Spanish, French and Luxembourg Red Crosses are also on hand to provide help in Goma and elsewhere in North and South Kivu.
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