Suspended U.S. aid hits UN humanitarian operations in DRC: UN official

12/2/2025 12:20

The suspension of U.S. foreign aid has harmed UN humanitarian operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a senior UN official said Tuesday.



"The security and humanitarian situation in the eastern DRC remains extremely volatile," with escalating armed clashes, mass displacement and increasing insecurity in both North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, said Bruno Lemarquis, deputy special representative of the UN secretary-general, resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the DRC.



The U.S. suspension of foreign aid "is having a major impact" on humanitarian aid operations in the country, Lemarquis told reporters via video from the capital Kinshasa.



He said, the dependence on U.S. funding "means a lot of programs had to shut down on everything we are doing. So, it's emergency health, it's emergency shelter," adding that coordination capacity in his office had to halt.