A Lifeline for Displaced Families in DR Congo
Families displaced by violence in eastern DRC are rebuilding their lives with support from UNICEF through a cash transfer program. Forced from their homes with few belongings, parents are using this assistance to pay for food, rent and school fees, determined to keep their children safe and in education as they look toward a more stable future.
Cash assistance: an indispensable tool for families caught in conflict
In Minova, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mwavita Rohomoya sits with her children in front of her drink stall, where she sells a variety of beverages.
Originally from Sake territory, North Kivu province, Rohomoya and her family fled their home to escape violent clashes between armed groups. Her husband works in a mining quarry, where he crushes stones.
While living at a displacement site in Minova, Rohomoya enrolled in a UNICEF-supported program designed to prevent gender-based violence and other protection risks. She was given a mobile phone and cash assistance in the form of mobile money.
The $107 she received helped the family relocate after their displacement site was dismantled. It also helped Rohomoya start her drink stall business, giving her financial independence. She can now afford to pay school fees for all four of her children.
Helping to ensure children have food, shelter and basic services during acute period of conflict
Within two months of launching the stall, Rohomoya was earning a good income. A good day could bring in over 30,000 Congolese francs. "I would love to return home," she says, "but unfortunately, the situation is still unstable.”
Rohomoya and her husband used to grow beans, potatoes and sorghum, while also raising goats, pigs and chickens. She doesn't know what has become of their land and livestock.
“When we first arrived in Minova, we worked in other people’s fields, sometimes without even being paid," she recalls. "It made life very difficult, because we couldn’t feed our children".
In Minova, one of the first areas in South Kivu to be affected by the resurgence of violence, one of the immediate consequences was the rise in prices of staple foods and essential goods. UNICEF’s cash transfer program helps families meet their urgent needs — buying food, finding shelter and accessing health care — and in some cases invest in small-scale income-generating activities.
"When my husband received the money and gave it to me, I immediately thought of starting a business that would help me become self-reliant," Rohomoya says.
Espérance Shukuru, a mother of three, has also benefited from UNICEF cash assistance. "With the first amount, I started selling flour," she says. "With the second transfer, I added charcoal to my goods. This money helped me and my family stay somewhat stable despite the tough conditions.”
Shukuru and her children have been displaced twice, first to Minova in late 2023, and then Goma, North Kivu province, in late 2024.
“A new crisis broke out, and we were told to leave the displacement site," she recalls. "Shortly after, UNICEF sent me another transfer. I used it to buy potatoes to resell in the neighborhood. To save money, I joined a Village Savings and Loan Association here in Goma. I split my profits in two: one part for savings, the other for my family’s daily needs. With what I’m saving, I hope to buy a plot of land so we can have a stable place to live. I also want to put money aside for my children’s education. My dream is for my children to get an education — a chance I was never given.”
Cash support provided to families in eastern DRC has already reached 14,000 children
As of mid May 2025, UNICEF had provided mobile cash transfers to over 6,000 families in eastern DRC — including 14,000 children — under three separate initiatives. In Minova, cash transfers were made to families identified as especially vulnerable to the impacts of the latest surge in violence. Participating households received two cash transfers of $24 per person, for up to five people.
In Goma, North Kivu province, transfers were made to 70 foster families caring for children who had become separated from their parents. The foster families received two cash payments of $50, one in January 2025 and another in March 2025, to cover costs associated with looking after the children.
“Cash transfers have been an indispensable tool during the past three months as the conflict in the east has escalated,” notes UNICEF Representative John Agbor. “The cash team was able to leverage systems already in place and make the transfers quickly, thereby ensuring that the most vulnerable children and women caught up in the crisis were still able to get the basic things they needed."
Cash transfers have been an indispensable tool during the past three months as the conflict in the east has escalated. — John Agbor, UNICEF Representative, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Additional transfers were made to 672 households in Goma that included survivors of sexual violence. The support helped cover basic needs and access to services as part of a larger gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, response and resilience program.
“In addition to how quickly UNICEF was able to make the transfers during the height of the crisis," Agbor adds, "another important benefit of mobile transfers is that it is discrete and offers an element of safety and protection in a fraught and sensitive environment."
Learn more about cash transfers and how they bring hope and dignity to families caught in crisis.
UNICEF first incorporated cash transfers into its emergency response in 2011 to respond to the growing scale and diversity of humanitarian needs, and to give families more autonomy and control over their lives. Since then, UNICEF has implemented a number of cash transfer programs; many take a "cash plus" approach, and are set up to complement the provision of other services, such as education, nutrition or child protection.
As the crisis in eastern DRC continues to affect vulnerable communities, UNICEF is aiming to expand the use of cash transfers as part of its humanitarian response.
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