Democratic Republic of the Congo

Even prior to the escalation of the M23 insurgency, women faced significant risks stemming from decades of intermittent fighting including the erosion of infrastructure and state capacity. Cities that endured sieges by M23 fighters saw hospitals and clinics severely damaged, forcing them to reduce their operations or even halt service provision. USAID previously provided 70 percent of the DRC’s healthcare funding, with 90 to 100 percent of support structures for gender-based violence in frontline territories now forced to shut their doors. These closures cut off women, including new mothers and survivors of sexual violence, from lifesaving medical care. Efforts to provide accountability for human rights violations, including those against women and girls, continue to face immense funding and operational hurdles. Despite risks of physical and digital harassment and violence, however, women continue to organize, pursue political office, train as mediators and peacebuilders, and advance accountability and support efforts for those impacted by conflict. Female activists are building on a legacy of women’s work, which has included creating support networks for survivors of sexual violence and facilitating peace processes and dialogues.

Women and girls in DRC continue to face the challenge of service provision and recovery planning despite continued fighting. More than 7.8 million people remain displaced in eastern DRC since December 2024, while at least 17,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in North Kivu alone during the first five months of 2025—a likely underreported figure due to stigma, mistrust, and lack of access to a reporting mechanism. Survivors will require medical and psychosocial services in the coming months and years, yet foreign aid cuts have eliminated access to acute care, including HIV+ prevention. Meanwhile, the ongoing shift toward critical and rare earth mineral diplomacy is now poised to expand mining projects in the coming years. While this could create new economic opportunities for women, it may also increase their exposure to toxins and drive higher rates of sexual violence near mines.

On November 14, 2025, the ISIS-linked ADF group attacked a hospital in North Kivu and killed at least 17 civilians, including 11 women. The ADF and other armed groups are operating across a region where more than 120 militias remain active, posing a chronic threat to civilians. Conflict-related sexual violence has risen by a third compared to 2024, with medical teams treating thousands of survivors this year, especially in displacement and camp settings. These dynamics escalate displacement of women and girls, increasing their vulnerability to sexual extortion, reduced access to services, disrupted livelihoods, and movement restrictions.

At least 32 people died when a bridge at the Kalando mine collapsed after gunfire caused a panic among miners in November 2025. Women artisanal miners—already concentrated in the lowest-paid and most hazardous roles and excluded from formal mining rights—face heightened risks in such disasters, including injury, sudden loss of income, and exposure to sexual exploitation. The collapse underscores how unsafe infrastructure and gendered labor patterns combine to undermine women’s safety in DRC’s mining regions.

Severe food insecurity continues to rise, with 26.6 million people in the DRC projected to face crisis levels between January 2025 and June 2026. A UN Women report from last year found that 3.6 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in the DRC were already acutely malnourished, conditions that are likely deteriorating as conflict spreads. Escalating violence and displacement in 2025 has further restricted women’s access to food and nutrition services, which poses a severe risk to women and their health.

A new report tracking WPS progress found that implementation of WPS goals in the DRC is facing financial and political challenges. Insufficient funding has prevented women from accessing key forums and decision-making spaces, such as the 2022 Nairobi peace process. Aid cuts have also now further reduced government and civil society WPS programming. While the DRC government has introduced a WPS Secretariat, it lacks the political influence needed to implement capacity building initiatives for local women leaders.

On November 15, 2025, representatives from DRC and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels signed a framework agreement aimed at reducing hostility and restoring state authority in eastern DRC. On November 7, the DRC and Rwanda endorsed a Regional Economic Integration Framework which created a plan for economic cooperation. These steps signal incremental progress toward de-escalation, which could ultimately reduce conflict-related violations and improve women’s mobility, safety, and access to services in eastern DRC. However, women remain sidelined from decisionmaking despite experiencing unique and disproportionate harms during conflict.

As of November 12, 2025, Roger Lumbala Tshitenga—a former leader of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie – National armed group—is on trial for charges of complicity in crimes against humanity, including torture and rape of civilians. The trial marks movement in accountability and justice for survivors; it could also help deter future targeting of women and girls through CRSV by signaling an end to impunity. 

The last Ebola patient in the DRC was discharged on October 19, 2025, launching the required 42-day countdown to formally declare the end of the epidemic. The outbreak disproportionately affected women, who comprised more than half of the cases and were also working on the frontlines in health care. November 30 will mark the official end of the outbreak, if no new cases are discovered.

The Congolese government is considering overturning a ban on pregnant girls attending school at Catholic institutions. Roughly 1 out of 4 schools nationwide enforce these discriminatory rules. Without clear national protections guaranteeing continued schooling during and after pregnancy, many girls remain at heightened risk for economic exclusion and early marriage.