The UN Humanitarian Response Plan for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provides a high-level overview of humanitarian needs in DRC. It is one of many assessments that the UK uses to determine where and how to respond in the country. As one of the largest humanitarian donors in DRC, the UK has been providing annual life-saving support to over one million affected people through our funding to UN, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and Red Cross partners.

The security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is concerning. The UK is committed to supporting efforts to build stability and reduce violence in the country. In recent weeks our regional network has raised our concerns about the recent increase in violence, protection of civilians and increased movement of armed groups with the governments of DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, as well as the leadership of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO.

Our Heads of Mission to DRC and Rwanda have met with DRC President Tshisikedi and the acting Rwandan Foreign Minister respectively, and the Minister for Africa has met with the Ugandan Foreign Minister. At the UN Security Council on 29 March, we urged the Governments of DRC and Uganda to increase their coordination with MONUSCO, to ensure the protection of civilians and the safety and security of UN personnel and humanitarian workers. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and engage bilaterally to improve the security situation.

The security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is concerning. The UK is committed to supporting efforts to build stability and reduce violence in the country. Particularly concerning is the protection of civilians in the East, especially following recent attacks on the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps in Ituri and the recent increase in killings by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), as well as the recent re-emergence of the armed group the M23 in the Rwanda/Uganda/DRC border zone. We continue to liaise extensively with MONUSCO on their deployments to improve security, and engage bilaterally with the Government of DRC and regionally on the security situation in the East.

The UK does not provide any specific support to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo with regard to mobile telecoms. Our current bilateral assistance to DRC is £56.3 million, comprising £30.4 million for humanitarian activities, £17.4 million for health and education; £4.8 million for economic development; and £3.7 million for governance and stabilisation. The UK also supports the work carried out by the UN Peacekeeping Mission MONUSCO, who through supporting stability across the country also help reduce the scope for criminal acts such a kidnapping. In 2021/22, the UK will contribute approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to MONUSCO.

The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the consistently high number of abuses and violations and the restriction of civil and political rights. We expressed our concerns about repression of journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society actors at the 48th UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in October 2021. We are following the arrest and sentencing of members of Lutte Pour Le Changement (LUCHA) and continue to raise the importance of free, peaceful democratic activism with our counterparts in DRC. The UK supports the work carried out by the UN Peacekeeping Mission MONUSCO, to protect civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence. In 2021/22, the UK will contribute approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to MONUSCO, who contribute to the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO). UNJHRO continue to implement protection mechanisms for human rights defenders and journalists. In 2021, 762 cases of threats and human rights violations against beneficiaries were addressed, including 595 human rights defenders.

The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the consistently high number of abuses and violations and the restriction of civil and political rights. We expressed our concerns about repression of journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society actors at the 48th UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in October 2021. We are following the arrest and sentencing of members of Lutte Pour Le Changement (LUCHA) and continue to raise the importance of free, peaceful democratic activism with our counterparts in DRC. The UK supports the work carried out by the UN Peacekeeping Mission MONUSCO, to protect civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence. In 2021/22, the UK will contribute approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to MONUSCO, who contribute to the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO). UNJHRO continue to implement protection mechanisms for human rights defenders and journalists. In 2021, 762 cases of threats and human rights violations against beneficiaries were addressed, including 595 human rights defenders.

The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office reports that in 2021 the recruitment of children into armed conflict was the most documented violation of the rights of the child in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 210 cases of abduction of children by armed groups were documented in Ituri in 2021, including by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and CODECO. According to the DRC Protection Cluster, 376 children associated with armed groups were identified and taken into care in 2021. In reality this is likely to be an underestimate and many hundreds more children are still thought to be associated with armed groups in Ituri province. Association with armed groups has significant negative consequences, including exposure to physical and emotional violence, long-term trauma and lost schooling years. We are working with the Government of the DRC to ensure their approach to community-based disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and stabilisation includes a focus on the need to provide tailored support to children associated with armed groups. In addition, UK partners the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children's Fund and MONUSCO's Child Protection Section continue to tackle the recruitment of children into armed conflict. To date, 43 commanders of armed groups have officially committed to MONUSCO for the protection of children, through signing a unilateral declaration and roadmap to end the recruitment and use and other serious violations against children.

The UK is committed to supporting efforts to build stability and reduce violence in DRC. In 2021/22, the UK will contribute approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO. MONUSCO works to protect civilians, humanitarian personnel, and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to address conflict for example through stabilisation support and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of armed groups. The DRC Government retains ultimate responsibility for security and stability, and we regularly discuss the importance of ensuring coherence, transparency, accountability and protection of civilians in security operations. The UK remains deeply concerned by the destabilising role the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, is playing in Africa. As I have said previously, the Wagner Group is a driver of conflict and capitalises on instability for its own interests, as we have seen in other countries affected by conflict such as Libya and the Central African Republic. Wagner does not offer long-term security answers in Africa.

We are aware of deeply troubling reports of a massacre of Iyeke people in Tshuapa province and have engaged with Human Rights Watch on the findings of their article. The UK Government is concerned by high levels of violence across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Working through the UN Joint Human Rights Office the UK is helping to monitor and verify reported human rights abuses and provide support to the Government in strengthening judicial processes and tackling impunity. This has included technical and operational assistance to national human rights institutions (such as the National Human Rights Commission) and civil society organisations to enhance their capacity to promote and protect of human rights in the DRC. UK funding to TRIAL International in DRC is also supporting the provision of legal aid to survivors, strengthening pathways to justice and helping to ensure perpetrators are held to account. We will continue to encourage the Government to improve the human rights situation, strengthen early warning mechanisms and uphold legal protections for marginalised communities - including the Iyeke - within the DRC. We will also continue to work with members of the international community to counter hate speech and incitement to violence in DRC.

The UK Government is concerned about instability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including in the Ituri province. I set out the range of efforts we are making to tackle the drivers of conflict, build stability and reduce violence in eastern DRC in Parliamentary Question 117760. Our current bilateral assistance to DRC is £56.3 million, comprising £30.4 million for humanitarian activities, £17.4 million for health and education; £4.8 million for economic development; and £3.7 million for governance and stabilisation. Since 2019, the UK Government has provided approximately £14.2 million in bilateral support to conflict resolution and prevention in DRC (£2.7 million in 2021/22; £3 million in 2020/21 and £8.5 million in 2019/20). In addition, in 2021/22, the UK has contributed approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DRC, MONUSCO. We remain committed to working with the government and people of DRC, and our international partners, to support peace and stability.

The UK has condemned the recent attack on Plaine Savo Internally Displaced People (IDP) site in Ituri, including through a UN Security Council Press Statement. The attack exacerbates an already severe humanitarian situation: due to violent attacks by armed groups, at least 864,000 people were displaced in Ituri in 2021 and over half the province's population suffer from acute food insecurity.

As one of the largest humanitarian donors, the UK has been providing life-saving support to tens of thousands of affected people in Ituri through our funding to UN, NGO and Red Cross partners. This support includes cash transfers, emergency water and sanitation, family tracing and reunification, and sensitising armed actors to their responsibilities under international humanitarian law. We are engaging directly with MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission, on ways to improve the protection of civilians in Ituri province. The UK is also assisting efforts to reduce violence and build stability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including by working with civil society, the DRC Government and MONUSCO to address the drivers of conflict, demobilise armed groups and support dialogue and conflict resolution mechanisms between local communities.

In October 2021, the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) dispatched a standing combat deployment to set up a temporary operational base in Bibokoboko. Its purpose was to assist in the safe and secure return of people displaced as a result of clashes between rival armed groups in Bibokoboko. MONUSCO have since facilitated the deployment of Congolese national security forces to the area. They are therefore shutting the base, which was always intended to be a short term deployment. As a result, we would not anticipate MONUSCO reopening the base unless the situation changed. The UK supports the work carried out by MONUSCO, to protect civilians, humanitarian personnel, and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence, and to support the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.

The UK is aware of the proposed project and the concerns regarding potential environmental impacts on the Upemba National Park. Whilst the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s energy needs are great and the mining sector currently relies heavily on diesel power generation to make up for a deficit in electricity, it is also vital that these needs are balanced with the needs to protect DRC's fragile environments and ecosystems.

The British Embassy in Kinshasa is in direct contact with the Director of the Upemba National Park and with civil society organisations in the Haut Katanga province where the Park is situated. Civil society have been working to publicise concerns about threats to the Park and the UK are supportive of their efforts. A study on the environmental impacts on the Park is currently underway by the Congolese National Institute for Conservation (ICCN) and we are waiting to see the findings of this study. Following a report by several NGOs, a Parliamentary Commission has been launched to investigate the concerns. The UK will be following up with relevant members to understand the conclusions from this commission.

The UK is scaling up its efforts to support DRC to safeguard its environment and adopt a low carbon development path. COP 26 saw an announcement from the UK to contribute £200 million to help protect the Congo Basin forests. Encouraging responsible investment into DRC will be a vital factor in driving sustainable growth.

The UK is aware of the proposed project and the concerns regarding potential environmental impacts on the Upemba National Park. Whilst the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s energy needs are great and the mining sector currently relies heavily on diesel power generation to make up for a deficit in electricity, it is also vital that these needs are balanced with the needs to protect DRC's fragile environments and ecosystems.

The British Embassy in Kinshasa is in direct contact with the Director of the Upemba National Park and with civil society organisations in the Haut Katanga province where the Park is situated. Civil society have been working to publicise concerns about threats to the Park and the UK are supportive of their efforts. A study on the environmental impacts on the Park is currently underway by the Congolese National Institute for Conservation (ICCN) and we are waiting to see the findings of this study. Following a report by several NGOs, a Parliamentary Commission has been launched to investigate the concerns. The UK will be following up with relevant members to understand the conclusions from this commission.

The UK is scaling up its efforts to support DRC to safeguard its environment and adopt a low carbon development path. COP 26 saw an announcement from the UK to contribute £200 million to help protect the Congo Basin forests. Encouraging responsible investment into DRC will be a vital factor in driving sustainable growth.

The UK is aware of the proposed project and the concerns regarding potential environmental impacts on the Upemba National Park. Whilst the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s energy needs are great and the mining sector currently relies heavily on diesel power generation to make up for a deficit in electricity, it is also vital that these needs are balanced with the needs to protect DRC's fragile environments and ecosystems.

The British Embassy in Kinshasa is in direct contact with the Director of the Upemba National Park and with civil society organisations in the Haut Katanga province where the Park is situated. Civil society have been working to publicise concerns about threats to the Park and the UK are supportive of their efforts. A study on the environmental impacts on the Park is currently underway by the Congolese National Institute for Conservation (ICCN) and we are waiting to see the findings of this study. Following a report by several NGOs, a Parliamentary Commission has been launched to investigate the concerns. The UK will be following up with relevant members to understand the conclusions from this commission.

The UK is scaling up its efforts to support DRC to safeguard its environment and adopt a low carbon development path. COP 26 saw an announcement from the UK to contribute £200 million to help protect the Congo Basin forests. Encouraging responsible investment into DRC will be a vital factor in driving sustainable growth.

Ituri is home to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Half its population suffer from acute food insecurity, the highest level in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (itself the world's largest food security crisis). Due to violent attacks by armed groups, more than 863,000 people have been displaced within Ituri in 2021, including 140,000 in just the past 3 months. Armed groups are also responsible for large numbers of civilian deaths, sexual violence, burning and looting of villages, attacks against health facilities, and for preventing people from farming their fields. Insecurity and attacks against humanitarian organisations are in turn affecting their ability to respond to the crisis.

As one of the largest humanitarian donors, the UK has been providing life-saving support to tens of thousands of affected people in Ituri through our funding to UN, NGO and Red Cross partners. This support includes cash transfers, emergency water and sanitation, family tracing and reunification, and sensitising armed actors to their responsibilities under international humanitarian law. The UK is also assisting efforts to reduce violence and build stability in eastern DRC, including by supporting MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission, and the DRC Government to demobilise armed groups and help local communities.