UN Sounds Alarm over Rising Hunger Crisis in Eastern DR Congo

The number of people facing emergency levels of hunger in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has nearly doubled since last year, the United Nations has warned. 
  
The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday a “deepening hunger crisis” was unfolding in the region, but warned it was only able to reach a fraction of those in need due to acute funding shortages and access difficulties. 
 
“We’re at historically low levels of funding. We’ve probably received about $150m this year,” said Cynthia Jones, country director of the WFP for the DRC, pointing to a need for $350m to help people in desperate need in the West African country. 
   
She said this higher level meant people were facing extreme gaps in food consumption and very high levels of malnutrition, adding that the numbers of people that are facing emergency levels of hunger is surging. 
 
The area has been rocked by more than a year of fighting. The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has seized swaths of the eastern DRC since taking up arms again in 2021, compounding a humanitarian crisis and the more than three-decade conflict in the region. 
 
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