This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF spokesperson James Elder
“Violence against children is defining the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Initial reports show that thousands of children have been subjected to rape and sexual violence in just two months, as communities are ripped apart by conflict and attacks on children.
“The rate of sexual violence against children has never been higher. Reports from child protection actors show that children make up between 35 to 45% of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence reported to protection actors in just January and February this year. In short, based on initial data from these GBV actors in the east of the DRC, during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict in eastern DRC, a child was raped every half an hour
“We are not talking about isolated incidents; we are talking about a systemic crisis. We are seeing survivors as young as toddlers. It is a weapon of war and a deliberate tactic of terror. And it destroys families and communities.
“The fact that this may be just the tip of the iceberg – hidden beneath layers of fear, stigma, and insecurity – should shake us to our core. Certainly, it should compel urgent and collective action.
“What should that action look like? We need additional prevention efforts, survivor-centred services, and safe, accessible ways for survivors to report abuse without fear. Survivors must see the world stand with them, not turn away. And perpetrators must face justice.
“As with all prevention efforts, funding is key, and the children of the DRC have not been spared from the consequences of the global funding crisis. In just one of the hospitals I visited this week, 127 survivors of rape had no access to PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) kits. That is a direct consequence of rapid funding cuts—these girls and women are enduring the most unimaginable horrors, and they are no longer getting even the basic medical care they need.
“And so the story a brave little 13year old girl shared with me – of her rape, of not understanding how she could be pregnant, of having a caesarean because of her tiny body– will be repeated time and again. In her own words: ‘I am a girl. I don’t know how to be a mother’.
“If UNICEF is unable to fill the funding gap left after programmes were terminated for key humanitarian services, 250,000 children will miss out on vital services for gender-based violence and protection in armed conflict. We have 12 weeks.
“And the crisis of funding goes beyond supporting children who are the survivors of grave violations. How bad will it get? Without funding, the numbers speak for themselves: in 2026 alone, our projections are that 100,000 children in the DRC will miss out on measles vaccinations. Nearly two million won’t be screened for malnutrition. Almost half a million will be left without enough safe water. The dire numbers go on and on. But these aren’t just numbers. Behind every one is a child—scared, hungry, vulnerable—and a family and a community doing everything they can to keep that child alive. The cost of inaction isn’t abstract. It’s measured in preventable suffering and lost futures.
“Safeguarding services is doubly important as humanitarian funding over many years has strengthened health systems in the DRC. Hard-earned gains – in child and maternal mortality, malnutrition prevention and treatment, immunization coverage, access to education, and birth registration – are all now at risk of unravelling.
“And of course in a deeply interconnected world, such consequences will not remain confined within borders. The DRC has been the epicentre of several outbreaks with global implications, including recurring Ebola, cholera and Mpox.
“Let me close with what gives me hope: the children, the social workers, the young people, and the health workers of the DRC:
“I met with dozens of volunteers—bright and relentless—who mobilise communities for vaccination, and go online to dismantle dangerous fake news, even when platforms roll back efforts to protect the truth.
“Health staff who stayed with survivors of violence and Mpox patients, even as chaos spread, prisons emptied, and police disappeared.
“The skilled and compassionate social workers – rooted in the community – who are the backbone of UNICEF’s response. Day by day, they accompany survivors, stitching together safety, dignity, and justice. They guide child rape survivors from trauma toward healing with unwavering care.
“And the survivors of rape – children – refusing silence, telling me plainly: ‘If we stay quiet about rape, there is no justice, and we don’t heal’.
“What they all need – health workers, social workers, and children – is one thing: opportunity.
“That’s the spark. But for opportunity to light real change, it must come with peace, and with funding.”
