Press Release: Funding cuts and uncertainty: impact on the humanitarian response DRC

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), April 08, 2025: The member organizations of the International NGO Forum in DRC are sounding the alarm as abrupt funding cuts and increasing uncertainty of future funding are dramatically changing the humanitarian response landscape in the DRC. Cuts from the United States could represent up to a 70% reduction, over time, in humanitarian response funding compared with 2024 against a backdrop of global reductions in foreign assistance.

The violent confrontations in North and South Kivu in late January, compounded by ongoing violence in Ituri and Mai Ndombe provinces have left thousands dead and millions displaced. With 21 disease surveillance alerts and active outbreaks of Measels, Monkeypox, Cholera and more, 25.6 million people in acute food insecurity, 4.5 million children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition, and sexual exploitation and violence on the rise, a predictable and resourced response is more critical than ever.

Critical response pillars that provide a lifeline to millions are being stopped in their tracks. Even as some projects come back online, this is done with weeks of visibility or less. Most partners on the ground have yet to receive to pay for completed activities let alone to resume those paused. This is eroding decades of trust and acceptance that response actors have built with local communities and serve as a corner stone for peace building and social cohesion activities.

National and local partners are bearing disproportionate risks as these funding cuts not only immediately affect their continued viability, undermining years of work towards more equitable partnerships and allocation of resources, but also cause outrage amongst affected communities to whom aid has been promised and not delivered.

Dr. De-Joseph Kakisingi, Director of the national NGO SAD and Coordinator of the CONAFOHD national NGO platform emphasized that “national and local NGOs were not prepared for these sudden and unexpected cuts. Several have been left with debts that they can’t pay as they had prefinanced activities that they haven’t received reimbursement for. It is possible that several organisations will have to close their doors as a result.”

With key resilience programs dismantled, years of investment will be lost and risks of recruitment, enrollment and other negative coping mechanisms will skyrocket. This will be compounded by the loss of critical education programs, further exposing young people to risk. Additionally, as key feedback and accountability mechanisms are shut down, the risk of inefficiencies, and loss of reporting on fraud, waste and grave violations in remaining programs will dramatically rise.

Local organisations including women-led and women’s rights organisations are also acutely affected by these cuts. Sandrine Lusamba, National Coordinator of the national NGO Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement (SOFEPADI), expressed that “as funding has been reduced and cut, peacebuilding and social cohesion programs have been slashed, which, against a backdrop of continued insecurity, jeopardizes years of programming in favor of women’s resilience initiatives and enhanced accountability. Furthermore, many women benefiting from small and medium enterprise training in Goma have been left without sources of revenue, forcing them to resort to negative coping mechanisms and in some instances, to return to insecure areas.”

Members of the INGO forum urgently call attention to the domestic and international risks posed by the rampant epidemics spreading throughout Congo. As testing, vaccination and treatment capacity is diminished due to a lack of funding, the proliferation of diseases will only grow. As trust in the aid sectoris lost and funding of support mechanisms at community level are slashed, social behaviors that further spread contamination potential and undermine treatment options could take root.

Without an immediate alternative, aid reductions will leave over 8,200 people seeking treatment for HIV without access to antiretrovirals as soon as early April. Post-exposure prophylactic kits are also in short supply and likely to run out soon if not urgently replenished, meaning, amongst other things, that survivors of rape will be further exposed to contracting HIV. Vaccination to treat and prevent Monkeypox -which is a global health emergency with 69,158 suspected cases and 1,392 fatalities between January 2024-January 2025 - is at risk, as is prompt testing, with rates falling over 10% in recent weeks, as facilities are being shut down and staff laid off. Blood banks are compromised and stock is scarce, negatively affecting trauma response and surgical capacity.

This crisis in DRC is not business as usual. The needs are not the same and the response cannot wait.

• New funding from new and alternative sources must be made available immediately to fill the gaps, including in sectors hardest hit by US grant terminations i.e. integrated food security -- including nutrition and WASH, health and protection.

• Funding must be flexible, prioritizing modalities like cash that enable affected populations to meet their specific and most urgent needs, and must be frontloaded to national and local response actors and groups.

• Donors must ensure coordination amongst themselves to ensure that critical response gaps are filled in a complimentary manner

• Humanitarian actors must urgently reprioritize their work in a clearly communicated and consultative manner reflecting the expressed needs of affected communities

“We can’t afford to stand still. Inaction costs lives. Cutting aid in the midst of a massive crisis shatters trust. Walking away now is not an option. The most life-threatening gaps therefore must be filled now. Yet, despite this, unavoidable choices about what parts of the humanitarian response to cut are upon us. To make these choices we must face the hard truth: we need to listen more, act faster, stay clear. Support frontline local actors taking the lead. Aid must go where people and communities say they need it most. Solidarity should be our cornerstone. Trust the people living the crisis. Fund their actions. Back their solutions.” said Luc Lampriere, director of the International NGO Forum in DRC.

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