Nearly 1 million people displaced in DR Congo this year: UN human rights chief

Kinshasa: Around 940,000 people have been displaced this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

That has brought the total number of internally displaced people to more than 6.4 million, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Tuesday in a briefing with reporters.

With 23.4 million people being food insecure, the DRC is the country most affected by food insecurity in the world, he added, Xinhua news agency reported.

The illegal exploitation and illicit trade of natural resources have fueled conflicts in eastern DRC, he warned, highlighting the involvement of both domestic and foreign companies, as well as the spread and trafficking of arms.

"This is also plunging the population further into poverty. The DRC is one of the five poorest nations in the world, with around one in six people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa residing in the DRC," he said.