“Children Raped Every 30 Minutes”: UNICEF Urges Urgent Action as Eastern DRC Faces Alarming Humanitarian Collapse. 

New York:

In a harrowing address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell painted a grim picture of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning that escalating violence in the country’s eastern provinces has reached catastrophic levels not seen in three decades.

Delivering her remarks during a high-level briefing convened under France’s presidency of the Security Council, Russell described the situation as a full-blown emergency, where children are bearing the brunt of systemic violence, sexual abuse, mass displacement, and disease outbreaks.

“The rate of sexual violence against children has reached shocking levels,” Russell said. “UNICEF estimates that during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict, a child was raped every half hour.”

According to UNICEF’s data, more than 400,000 children have been newly displaced in 2025 alone, bringing the total number of displaced people in eastern DRC to well over 6 million, many of them sheltering in overcrowded, unsanitary camps vulnerable to outbreaks of cholera, mpox, and measles. The DRC remains the epicenter of a new, highly contagious strain of mpox, with treatment centers overrun or abandoned as violence intensifies.

Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War

Russell emphasized that rape and sexual abuse are being deployed as tools of war, with verified grave violations against children doubling in just the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Reports from the field show that children account for more than 40% of the 10,000 sexual violence cases reported in January and February.

“These numbers are likely underreported,” she cautioned. “Fear, stigma, and insecurity mean the true toll is far higher. This is a crisis of protection, dignity, and humanity.”

Humanitarian Access and Health Crisis

The humanitarian response is being strangled by insecurity, attacks on aid workers, and a massive funding shortfall. Eleven aid workers have been killed since January, and key UNICEF warehouses and treatment centers—including those dedicated to the mpox outbreak—have been looted or destroyed.

At the same time, critical medical supplies like PEP kits for rape survivors are running out, and over 2,500 schools have closed due to conflict, removing vital protections and safe spaces for vulnerable children.

Russell also warned that the drawdown of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO has led to deteriorating access to remote communities due to the loss of logistical support like road and airstrip maintenance.

Despite this, UNICEF remains on the ground. In cities like Goma and Bukavu, staff are delivering emergency water, sanitation, medical aid, and psychosocial support. UNICEF reports providing clean water to 700,000 people per day in Goma alone.

Appeal for Funding and Protection

UNICEF has launched an urgent appeal for $57 million to sustain emergency operations for the next three months. In 2024, the agency received only 20% of the required funding for its operations in eastern DRC.

“If the funding crisis isn’t urgently addressed,” Russell warned, “hundreds of thousands of children will go without nutrition screening, lifesaving vaccines, and safe water.”

Calls to Action: Peace, Access, Accountability

In her closing plea to the Council, Russell called for:

• An immediate cessation of hostilities and implementation of Security Council Resolution 2773.
• Protection of children and civilian infrastructure under international humanitarian law.
• Unhindered humanitarian access and open borders for aid and civilian movement.
• Temporary humanitarian pauses to allow relief operations and medical evacuations.
• Full accountability for grave violations, including recruitment of child soldiers and acts of sexual violence.

“The situation can and must change,” Russell concluded. “If we fail to act with urgency, we condemn a generation to trauma and violence. But if we stand for peace, protection, and accountability, we offer them hope.”

The DRC, long beset by cycles of violence and neglect, now stands at the brink of a humanitarian abyss. As UNICEF’s briefing makes clear, the fate of millions of children lies in the hands of the international community.