The UN condemned on Friday the widespread rape of children in conflict-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where thousands were reportedly subjected to sexual violence in the first two months of 2025.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by decades of conflict, but tensions have been heightened in recent months by the advance of the M23 armed group which the international community says is backed by Rwanda. Kigali denies the accusations.

“The rate of sexual violence against children has never been higher,” warned James Elder of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, demanding action.

“Early reports show that children make up between 35 to 45 percent of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence reported… in just January and February of this year,” he told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Goma.

“In short, based on initial data, … during the most intense phase of this year’s conflict in eastern DRC, a child was raped every half an hour.”

The conflict has killed thousands, driven vast numbers from their homes and left children even more vulnerable to the rampant sexual violence that has plagued the region for years.

“We are not talking about isolated incidents,” Elder said, decrying “a systemic crisis”.

“We are seeing survivors as young as toddlers,” he warned.

“It is a weapon of war and a deliberate tactic of terror. And it destroys families and communities.”

Elder stressed that the horrifying numbers could “just the tip of the iceberg, hidden beneath layers of fear, stigma, and insecurity”.

This, he said, “should shake us to our core. Certainly it should compel urgent and collective action”.

Elder called for “additional prevention efforts, survivor-centred services, and safe, accessible ways for survivors to report abuse without fear”.

“Survivors must see the world stand with them, not turn away. And perpetrators must face justice.”