By Communications Team | USA for UNFPA
Francine holds her newborn daughter Amani in the mobile health clinic, one of many supported by UNFPA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ©UNFPA DRC / Jonas Yunus
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of the Congo – As fighting intensified in North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Francine clutched her pregnant belly, waves of pain coursing through her.
It was 2 a.m. when she went into labor, in the heart of a warzone. “I have been displaced twice since January and was sheltering in an overcrowded camp,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.
Fighting between national armed forces and rebels erupted in January 2025 near Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes and are seeking refuge in formal and informal camps, in an area already under strain from high numbers of displaced people.
Francine is originally from Kabati, in the Rutshuru territory, but fled with her husband in February 2023 as clashes gripped their area. With the sound of bombs echoing through the camp, she traveled through darkness and chaos with her mother to reach a UNFPA mobile health clinic just in time.
For $100, you could provide 20 Emergency Birth Kits to pregnant women like Francine. Each kit has the power to save not just one life, but two.
Access to lifesaving reproductive health services was scarce in the region even before the current escalation in fighting. The country had one of the world’s highest rates of maternal deaths due to pregnancy- and birth-related complications.
Now, with only one-third of hospitals in the region and one in five health centers able to function, UNFPA’s mobile health teams are often the only option women have to deliver with the support of skilled health workers.
Two hours after she arrived, Francine gave birth to a baby girl—safely, in good health, but in the most precarious of circumstances. Gazing down at her daughter, she said, “I will name her Amani—Peace. Because she was born in war, but she will stand for peace.”
A UNFPA mobile health clinic in a displacement camp in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ©UNFPA DRC / Jonas Yunus
A Multitude of Dangers for Women and Girls
Despite being one of the few remaining safe spaces for displaced women and girls in North Kivu, the fragile tent that houses the mobile health unit offered scant protection from the approaching explosions.
“It is for women like Francine that we do this work,” said her midwife, Nelly. “We were not safe. We need more support to meet these urgent needs.”
A contribution of $400 equips a midwife and maternity ward to help 50 expecting mothers safely deliver their babies in humanitarian emergencies.
Of the estimated 220,000 pregnant women in North and South Kivu alone, more than 12,000 are currently displaced, with no assured access to medical care. Over 88,000 women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence, and unintended pregnancies are expected to rise due to the collapse of health services.
In recent years, incidents of violence against women—including assault, rape, and coercion—have soared across the country, with two-thirds of cases reported in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Minimal security in crowded displacement camps, hunger, and few opportunities to earn a stable income have left many with nowhere to turn to support their families. The risks of exploitation and abuse for women and adolescent girls—including forced marriage, human trafficking, and survival sex—are also reported to be rising sharply.
This is happening just as access to sexual and reproductive health services is being forced to shut down due to rising insecurity and dwindling supplies, with critical humanitarian corridors blocked by fighting.
As the conflict escalates, bombs have begun hitting camps for internally displaced people, forcing more women and girls to flee—again—and stripping them of the few safety nets they had left. A number of UNFPA mobile health clinics and listening centers have also been looted and destroyed, temporarily suspending services and further reducing the options available to people in dire need.
An aerial view of a displacement camp in Goma, capital of the North Kivu region, which is now sheltering hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence. ©UNFPA DRC / Jonas Yunus
Urgent Needs
UNFPA is currently operating eight mobile health clinics across the region, staffed by 27 midwives delivering critical maternal and reproductive care. Three health facilities that support displaced people across eight camps are ensuring safe deliveries, prenatal care, and family planning for more than 8,000 people.
Contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies are being distributed despite treacherous conditions and disruptions. For survivors and those at risk of violence, a hotline is offering immediate support, referrals, and protection options, while five UNFPA safe spaces for women and girls continue to provide refuge and psychosocial care.
UNFPA remains in North Kivu, working alongside the government and humanitarian partners to ensure women and girls receive lifesaving care. But the needs are growing faster than resources can keep up. Francine’s story is not unique. Thousands of other women are bracing for childbirth in tents, under bombardment, unsure if they or their babies will survive the night.
A contribution of $150 provides supplies, medications, and equipment to a rural health clinic that can help safely manage obstetric emergencies — so we can continue to be there for women like Francine.
By Communications Team | USA for UNFPA
By Communications Team | USA for UNFPA
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