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.
What children in DRC are facing
DRC has been dealing with violent conflict for nearly three decades. The toll on children is devastating.
4.18 million children under the age of 5 are suffering or expected to suffer acute malnutrition and be in urgent need of nutrition services and treatment. The country is already facing one of the world's worst food crises, with 14 million children facing critical hunger.
The crisis goes far beyond hunger. The resurgence of conflict in South Kivu in early 2025 displaced more than 200,000 people - half of them children - leaving families sheltering in schools, churches and open fields, cut off from clean water, healthcare and education. In 2025 alone, 775 schools were closed - leaving more than 375,000 children outside the school system.
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. And when families flee, children are sometimes separated - left alone, frightened and without anyone to turn to.
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. In North Kivu, through our AMANI (Action for Malnutrition Alleviation and Nutrition Intervention) project, we screened more than 23,000 children for malnutrition between June and December 2025, and treated 1,425 children with acute malnutrition - providing free therapeutic food, medicines and follow-up care.
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 helped Nyota* find her family again
With a smile on her face, 12-year-old Nyota* is held by Joelle*, alongside her husband Jonas*, during the reunification in the DRC.
When fighting broke out in North Kivu in January 2025, Nyota*, 12, fled alone after being separated from her family in the chaos. She found shelter in a church, sleeping on an empty stomach with no belongings and no one she knew.
Nyota was identified as an unaccompanied child by our local partner APEDC (Agir pour la protection de l'enfant et le développement communautaire) and placed with a foster family, who gave her food, clothing and protection while the search for her family began. After months of family tracing efforts across displacement sites, her uncle Jonas was located. In October 2025, Nyota was reunited with her family.
"For almost a year, we had lost all hope of finding her," Jonas said. "When I was told that the child had been found, I gave thanks to God."
Nyota's story is far from unique. Since January 2025, violent clashes in eastern DRC have separated thousands of children from their families. Our teams work every day to find them, support them and bring them home.
How we helped Julienne* with peanut paste
Elysée*, 36, is a widow raising nine children after being displaced by violence in eastern DRC. She lost her land, her home and her husband. To survive, she takes on occasional domestic work and her children collect firewood to sell at the market. Some nights, the family goes to bed without eating.
But hunger has a face: Julienne*, one of her daughters. Weakened by malnutrition, she was constantly ill, her thin body reduced to skin and bones. Elysée took her to a health centre supported by Save the Children. Julienne was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and began free treatment with therapeutic peanut paste (Plumpy'Nut).
Four weeks later, Julienne is regaining her strength. She speaks again, moves again, lives again.
"I paid nothing for the care, and yet my child is recovering," said Elysée. "For me, this is an immense relief and a source of hope."
Julienne*, 2.5 years old and suffering from malnutrition, is eating Plumpy’Nut given to her by her mother, Elysée*, at a Save the Children partner clinic in North Kivu
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. 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 April 2026
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
