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Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shines a Light on the Refugee Crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

A personal essay from actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Gugu Mbatha-Raw on the refugee crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, I was privileged to be welcomed into their lives in a country entangled in one of the world's most complex humanitarian crises and holding the largest internally displaced population in Africa. Just in recent months, more than 398,000 people have been forced to flee a dramatic resurgence of the conflict in North Kivu Province, joining millions of innocent civilians who have already found themselves trapped in dire and deteriorating humanitarian circumstances. The formidable challenges she already faced in a resettlement site in Kalehe, South Kivu Province, where making ends meet was a daily struggle, forcing agonizing choices about which child could go to school.

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