Rampant insecurity and bureaucratic obstacles are hampering efforts to rush aid to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN humanitarian agency said on Tuesday.
Decades of conflict have left the region with one of the most severe and intractable humanitarian crises.
But in a report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said aid was delayed due to insecurity, bureaucratic obstacles and restrictions on movement such as roadblocks.
At the end of February, 31 international NGOs, as well as many local ones, were still waiting for important documentation from the DRC government, OCHA said.
Violence against aid workers is another factor in reducing aid, according to OCHA.
In late February, the UN suspended humanitarian flights in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri province after unidentified militants opened fire on one of its helicopters near Goma.
About 5.8 million people have been displaced in the DRC, according to UN figures.
Of these, around 800,000 have been displaced in the east of the country since the M23 rebels took up arms again in late 2021.
Tutsi-led militias have seized territory in North Kivu province and are closing in on the capital Goma, a trading center for more than one million people.
In response to the crisis, the European Union launched a “humanitarian airlift” to Goma, sending two planes packed with tents, beds and medical equipment to the city this month.
But Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned last week that many displaced people, especially in remote areas, have yet to receive help.
Humanitarian efforts have been characterized by “slowness difficult to explain” and lack of coordination on the ground, the NGO said in a statement.
The DRC accuses its small neighbor Rwanda of supporting M23. Independent UN experts, the United States and several other Western countries have come to the same conclusion, although Rwanda denies the allegations.