France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Democratic Republic of the Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi before a meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on October 30, 2025, on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum. (Photo by Ludovic Marin / AFP)
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the airport in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will reopen to humanitarian flights, months after it was closed when the city was seized by the M23 armed group.
The key airport would open "in the coming weeks" along with secure corridors for aid delivery, Macron said at a conference in Paris, where he also announced more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) pledged in international aid for Africa's Great Lakes region, plagued by a humanitarian crisis.
"I am proud to announce that you have collectively mobilised over 1.5 billion euros in assistance for the most vulnerable populations," he said at the closing of the international conference co-organised with Togo, adding that the aid includes medicines and food.
Millions of people are facing hunger in the DRC, which has been hit hard by a sharp drop in foreign aid, the United Nations warned on Thursday, as the United States and other wealthy nations dramatically scale back international assistance.
"We cannot remain silent spectators of the tragedy unfolding in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Macron said.
The DRC is rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals. But three decades of conflict in the country's northeast as different factions fight over the resources have claimed millions of lives and left the region ravaged.
Violence has intensified since 2021 with the resurgence of the anti-government M23, which the UN says is supported by neighbouring Rwanda and its army -- charges denied by Rwanda.
M23 seized the major cities of Goma in January and Bukavu in February, closing off access to Goma's airport.
According to the UN, clashes since January have killed thousands of people and forced more than a million to flee their homes.
Non-governmental groups have been calling for secure humanitarian corridors to be reopened to affected areas.
'Forgotten' crisis
President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, which is the African Union's mediator for the Great Lakes region, called for transparency regarding humanitarian aid.
"Aid must alleviate suffering without fostering dependency, stabilise without freezing power dynamics. That is why, to protect the benefits of aid and those who deliver it, stronger African oversight is needed," he said.
More than 21 million people need humanitarian aid in the DRC -- nearly one-fifth of the population, NGO Oxfam France said this month.
The DRC is experiencing "one of the most serious and forgotten humanitarian crises in the world" and it "continues to worsen", the aid charity said.
More than 1.6 million people have had to flee their homes since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of internally displaced people to 5.2 million.
