Overview
- Since January 2025, authorities have reported 64,427 cholera cases and 1,888 deaths, including 14,818 infections and 340 deaths among children.
- Seventeen of the country’s 26 provinces are affected, including a lethal cluster in a Kinshasa orphanage where 16 of 62 children died within days.
- Only 43% of people have basic water services and 15% have basic sanitation, with conflict, flooding and rapid urbanization driving spread alongside a roughly 30% regional rise in cases.
- The government’s $192 million Multisectoral Cholera Elimination Plan remains severely underfunded, even as new steps such as the River Congo initiative are introduced.
- UNICEF is sustaining rapid-response CATI operations, supporting treatment centers and community WASH outreach, and is appealing for about $6 million for 2026 after reaching 13.5 million people with prevention information this year.