Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo has plunged the country into a humanitarian emergency with 2.2 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, 13.1 million people in need of aid in order to survive, and over 4 million civilians displaced by the conflict. These are the figures released by Caritas today. There is also a danger that the “problems” of Congo may “spread quickly into neighbouring countries” and that the lack of “stability and humanitarian intervention” may degenerate into a civil war. “We fear that a powder keg is about to ignite a resurgence of fear, anger, and insecurity. The Church is doing all that it can, but if the international community doesn’t react quickly, it will be too late”, said Bernard Kateta Balibuno, a representative of CAFOD, the aid agency of the UK Bishops. Some days ago, the Congolese Bishops had denounced the “ever-increasing zones of insecurity” and the outbreaks of “inter-ethnic fighting”. Nine bloody days, from 2 to 10 February in the Bunia area, which have left 30 dead, 2,000 houses burned down, and 100,000 people forced from their homes. Furthermore, schools are closed and hospitals stand empty, as even “the sick have fled for their lives”. The needs of the displaced are enormous. “The Congolese state must properly fulfill its role as the protector of civilians and their property”, the Diocese of Bunia said, “it must stop this barbarity without further delay and punish those responsible”. In Fizi, thousands have been killed and around 125,000 displaced by the conflict between the Congolese army and local armed groups. Every kind of violence has been perpetrated. Children, in a region already affected by malnutrition, are also dying from epidemics. The Kasai region has to cope with 1.5 million people displaced and any kind of emergency, including 400,000 suffering children.