UNICEF has called repeatedly for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access, highlighting that conflict-related displacement and poverty are fueling violence against children across the country.
‘Hidden scars’
The report,The hidden scars of conflict and silence, documents cases in every province and underlines that the crisis extends far beyond the active frontlines. The highest numbers are recorded in conflict-affected eastern provinces – including North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri – where insecurity, displacement and weak protection services leave children extremely vulnerable.
Significant numbers are also reported in the Kinshasa and Kasai regions, where poverty, food insecurity and school dropout increase exposure to exploitation, early marriage and abuse.
National figures from child protection and gender-based violence service providers show that more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were registered in the first nine months of 2025 alone. Nearly 45,000 cases were documented in 2024 – almost three times as many as in 2022 – accounting for almost 40 percent of all reported cases of sexual violence in the country.
UNICEF warns that the real toll is likely to be much higher, as fear, stigma, insecurity and limited access to services prevent many survivors from reporting abuse.
Resilience must shape the response
The report includes testimonies from survivors alongside data, highlighting that each statistic represents a child whose life has been profoundly changed by violence.
Survivors describe shame, isolation and a shattered sense of self, while also expressing determination to reclaim dignity and hope. Their reports, collected by social workers from multiple provinces, illustrate both the scale of the crisis and the resilience of those affected – resilience, according to UNICEF, must determine the response.
“Case workers describe mothers walking for hours to reach clinics with daughters who can no longer walk after being attacked,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Families say fear of stigma and retaliation often prevents them from reporting the abuse. Stories like these are repeated across provinces, exposing a deep-seated crisis caused by insecurity, inequality and weak support systems.”
Adolescent girls account for the largest and fastest growing share of reported cases, although boys are also victims of sexual violence and remain significantly underrepresented due to stigma and under-reporting. Children with disabilities face greater risks as physical, social and communication barriers both increase vulnerability and limit access to care and justice.
Children speak out
The scale of the crisis is increasingly reflected in children’s own words.
“My role is not in an armed conflict,” wrote a child from the DRC in a message addressed to world leaders via the Prove It Matters campaignled by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and armed conflict.
Marking the end of 2025, UN Special Representative Vanessa Frazier warned that children in the DRC and other conflict situations faced extreme forms of abuse throughout the year.
She underlined that 2024 was already the worst year on record since the mandate was imposed nearly three decades ago, and warned that such damage should not become the new norm. In her statement, she named the DRC alongside Gaza, Haiti, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Ukraine as contexts where children continued to face “appalling levels of serious violations” in 2025.
‘We cannot change 2025’
“We cannot change 2025, but we can take action and be determined to change the situation of children affected by armed conflict by 2026,” Ms Frazier said.
She called on leaders to listen to children, uphold international law, end violations, release children linked to armed groups and strengthen funding for child protection, justice and long-term recovery.
Cutbacks increase the risk
Although UNICEF and partners expanded assistance between 2022 and 2024 – reaching more than 24,200 children in the hardest-hit provinces last year – uncertainty and global budget cuts have led to many safe spaces, mobile clinics and community-based protection programs being scaled back or closed.
By mid-2025, only 23 percent of gender-based violence interventions were funded, down from 48 percent in 2022, leaving hundreds of thousands of children at risk of losing essential services, including an estimated 300,000 children in eastern conflict zones.
“A protected child means a safe future,” said another conflict-affected child against world leaders through the Prove It Matters campaign.
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