The DRC is one of the toughest places in the world to be a child
Right now, children in DRC are living through one of the world's largest humanitarian crises
One in every four people needs humanitarian support due to violent conflict, climate-related disasters and disease outbreaks. In the first half of December 2025 alone, more than 500,000 people – including over 100,000 children – were forced from their homes as violence escalated in South Kivu province.
Armed groups targeted civilians directly, killing and injuring nearly 200 people. Many families fled to other parts of the country and into neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda, carrying what little they could.
This is just the latest chapter in a living nightmare for children
DRC has been dealing with violent conflict for nearly three decades. The country is already facing one of the world's worst food crises, with 14 million children facing critical hunger – the highest number for any individual country.
Following this latest escalation, thousands more children need our support urgently.
Children are being killed and injured. Their hospitals and schools have come under attack. They're at grave risk of recruitment by armed forces, child labour, abductions and sexual violence.
How we're helping children in DRC
We're working with 13 local partners, international partners and government authorities to support children and their families right now.
Health services
We're making sure children can access the medical care they need, from treating injuries to preventing disease outbreaks in crowded displacement sites.We've deployed our innovative Emergency Health Unit to provide essential healthcare to children and their families.
Nutrition
We're reaching children with emergency feeding programmes, treating severe malnutrition and supporting families to access food.
Water, sanitation and hygiene
Clean water saves lives. We're providing safe water, building latrines and distributing hygiene supplies to prevent deadly diseases spreading.
Child protection
We're creating safe spaces for children, reuniting families separated by violence, and protecting children from recruitment, abuse and exploitation.
We’re helping strengthen family care systems and training local leaders and communities to prevent and respond to exploitation and abuse.
We’re urging the government and relevant authorities to call for the recruitment of children into armed groups to stop; to put mechanisms in place to protect children who have been arrested and for survivors to access support.
Education
Even in emergencies, education gives children hope and routine. We're setting up temporary learning spaces and helping children continue their education.
By building classrooms, training teachers and distributing learning materials, we’re increasing access to quality basic education for thousands of children.
We’re calling for schools to become neutral zones, to be free from the presence of violence and be safe and secure places for learning, caring and nurturing.
HOW WE'RE HELPING PRISCA*
Prisca, 6, with her mother Beatrice outside their home in Ituri Province
When armed groups attacked the village and surrounding area where Prisca lived, she was forced to flee, along with her mother and grandmother.
They walked for miles to a nearby camp, passing many dead bodies along the way, with just a small bag each and the clothes they were wearing.
Although Prisca is pleased to be away from fighting and the sound of gunshots, life in the camp is not easy - she sleeps on the floor with just a thin blanket for warmth, and she and her family have very little food to eat each day.
Prisca is now part of a Save the Children programme which helps displaced children to return to school, providing them special lessons to catch up with the schooling they have missed. She also received a school uniform, some notebooks and pens from the charity.
Ebola in the DRC
Elise* attends an Ebola awareness session in North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, which lasted almost two years, was the second largest in the world.
The response to the epidemic was difficult, due to the insecurity/conflict and false information/rumours that disrupted emergency efforts.
Within days of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, our Emergency Health Unit was there supporting local hospitals and health centres.
It helped identify Ebola cases, train healthcare staff in infection prevention and control, and start a mass education campaign to tackle the fear and misinformation that were fuelling the spread of the deadly virus.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a perfect storm of crises. Decades of armed conflict have devastated communities, while climate shocks and disease outbreaks push millions to breaking point.
The impact on children is devastating. Malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world. Schools and hospitals are attacked or destroyed. Families are displaced again and again, losing everything each time they flee.
But with your support, we're there. In the most dangerous places, through the longest crises, we stay to help children survive and rebuild their lives.
Page updated January 2026
