DRC: More than 100,000 children and their families forced from homes in South Kivu by escalating violence

KINSHASA, 10 December 2025 – More than 200,000 people, including 104,000 children, have been forced from their homes in recent days in South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with escalating violence triggering a surge in displacement, said Save the Children [1]. 

The thousands of displaced children and their families are now seeking refuge within other parts of DRC as well as across the border in Burundi and Rwanda.  

At least 74 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and 83 wounded since December 2, according to the UN, with reports that armed groups are using heavy weapons on multiple fronts, directly attacking civilians as well as civilian infrastructure, including schools and health centres.  

Violence had already impacted the province throughout this year. Some 1 270 schools – or 15% of the schools in South Kivu – are no longer functional because of the recurrent waves of conflict, affecting over 390,000 students, with 94 schools attacked, burned, destroyed or occupied by armed groups.  

At least four students have been killed, six injured, and one has been abducted, according to the Education Cluster, a group of humanitarian organisations working in South Kivu, including Save the Children.  

Local protection networks have also reported additional abductions and civilian deaths — though no independently verified figures are yet available. 

Save the Children has a longstanding operational footprint in the Uvira, a city of 750,000 near the border with Burundi, and the last major urban centre in South Kivu province yet to be hit by the recent attacks.  

Although activities have been scaled down due to funding gaps, Save the Children retains strong partnerships, community networks, and operational familiarity in the area, and is preparing for a rapid escalation in needs and for a potential shift in access dynamics should fighting reach Uvira. 

Greg Ramm, Save the Children’s Country Director in DRC, said:  

“We are extremely concerned about this rapid escalation of violence, which has impacted the lives of so many children and their families. These children are in desperate need of the basics – food, water, hygiene, shelter – while the threat of violence hangs over their heads.  

“The situation is desperate, and we need urgent global action, now. We urge all parties involved in the conflict to prioritise the protection of civilians and ensure unrestricted humanitarian access.

"We reiterate our call on the international community to take immediate actions to address the rapidly unfolding humanitarian crisis in the DRC. This includes providing emergency assistance to those displaced, supporting efforts to protect civilians and working towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict.  

"What we ask most is peace to return, calm to return, so children can be safe, and we can continue our essential humanitarian work.”  

Conflict in DRC has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with nearly 7 million people, including at least 3.5 million children, displaced and more than 26 million people – or one in every four people – in need of humanitarian assistance.    

An earlier major influx in March 2025 saw around 63,000 refugees from eastern DRC enter Burundi —the largest such movement in decades. Since November, with renewed escalation in South Kivu, new arrivals into Burundi have reportedly continued, though updated official registration numbers remain pending.  

Save the Children started working in eastern DRC in 1994, and is currently working with 13 local partners, as well as international partners and government authorities, to deliver critical health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection and education support to children and their families.  

Save the Children has been working in Burundi since 2016 providing services in child protection, prevention and response to gender-based violence, health, child right governance and education.  

NOTES:  

[1] While the exact child population of the region isn’t known, with children making up 52% of the population of the DRC, Save the Children estimates some 104,000 children have been displaced in South Kivu since the start of December. This is based on UN figures estimating that at least 200,000 people have been displaced in the region since 2 December.