On this African Child Day, CDH/VICAR draws urgent attention to the alarming situation of refugee children in the Lusenda Refugee Camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many children are currently suffering from kwashiorkor, a life-threatening form of malnutrition caused by prolonged protein deficiency, placing their health and survival at serious risk.
For five consecutive months, these children and their families have been left without any humanitarian assistance. The withdrawal of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from the camp has resulted in the collapse of essential protection and support mechanisms, leaving refugees exposed to hunger, preventable diseases, and extreme vulnerability.
Child malnutrition in a forced-displacement context constitutes a grave violation of fundamental child rights, including the rights to food, health, and human dignity. The prolonged absence of humanitarian aid not only threatens immediate survival but also causes irreversible damage to children’s physical and cognitive development.
CDH/VICAR urgently calls on humanitarian agencies, host authorities, and international partners to immediately restore humanitarian assistance in Lusenda. States must uphold their commitments. The abandonment of refugee children is unacceptable, and their suffering must neither be normalized nor ignored.
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