25% of people across DRC currently facing actual hunger

JOHANNESBURG - The World Food Programme (WFP) said one out of four people across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently facing actual hunger.

The country has been beset by conflict for decades, the latest of which is the uprising of the M23 rebel group.

ALSO READ:

- African health agency says DRC fighting has spawned 'health emergency'

- DRC conflict: WFP says warehouses in Goma looted

- Eastern DRC civilians have no access to necessities amid escalating conflict, says WFP

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional forces and United Nations (UN) peacekeepers have been deployed to the DRC to quell the violence.

The WFP’s deputy director, Cynthia Jones, said more than six million people have been forced to live in overcrowded camps in the DRC.

She noted that the most vulnerable people in eastern DRC are women and children.

The programme focuses its aid on about seven million people who depend on their life-saving support.

“We need to be able to respond at the heart of this deepening hunger crisis, which is absolutely catastrophic, particularly for women and girls who are on the move and don't know where they can go to get safety.”

Jones added that they are concerned for the safety of their colleagues and residents stuck in Goma.

Thirteen South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers have been killed while fending off the rebels' efforts to take the city.