For decades, the dire humanitarian situation in Eastern DRC has been characterized by an imbalance between people’s needs and international aid response. This situation further exacerbated over the past two years with the so-called “M23 crisis”: the massive explosion of displaced people and needs has been met with a glaring lack of support and attention, despite late UN efforts such as the system-wide UN operational scale-up in Eastern Congo. Since years MSF regularly highlights many of the humanitarian community’s shortcomings in effectively responding to emergencies, including in Eastern DRC. But in thirty years, what has really changed? What is needed to finally obtain a more effective, adequate, and principled response to the urgent needs on all sides to fill critical gaps? How to make sure that Ituri and South Kivu don’t risk being forgotten?
