By Prud Zihalirwa – Prud is determined to bring peace to his country – but when he and his team tried to go to a peace conference in Qatar, they were denied visas. In his latest diary from DR Congo, he describes the ongoing violence he had hoped to learn how to change at that Qatar event.
Living Through War in Goma: A Missed Chance for Peacebuilding
From 20–25 August 2025, young leaders from around the world gathered in Doha, Qatar, for the Global Unites Summit. The event brought together 100 youth leaders from 20 countries, including Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to share experiences and build strategies for peace.
My team from Congo Unites and I were meant to be there. Since March, we had prepared with hope and determination, eager to represent the voices of Congolese youth living through war. But at the last minute, our visas were denied. It was a heavy blow. At a time when our region is experiencing unprecedented violence, this platform would have allowed us to speak, listen, and learn. It is painful to be silenced when our communities are bleeding.
Daily Life in a City Under Siege.
Since January, Goma and North Kivu have lived under the control of the M23/AFC rebellion, backed by Rwanda. While open battles no longer take place in the centre of the city, insecurity defines our daily lives. Each day, civilians are killed – sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening, sometimes in broad daylight.
- On 7 August, brothers Eloi Wissoba and Yves Wilondja were shot dead as they returned home from work.
- On 2 August, activist Saleh Lushombo was shot in the head near the University of Goma; today he lies in a critical condition.
- Motorbike taxi drivers, traders, and ordinary citizens are regularly executed by armed men without reason.
The violence has spread beyond the killings. Goma has lived six months without an airport and without functioning banks, plunging the city into economic paralysis. Many residents especially the youth have fled to neighbouring Gisenyi, Rwanda, where they pay rent rather than risk their lives at home. Local businesses are increasingly dominated by rebel networks and collaborators, leaving ordinary Congolese powerless.
Atrocities Beyond Goma
The violence is not limited to the city. In July alone, Human Rights Watch documented the execution of over 140 civilians across 14 villages near Virunga National Park in Rutshuru. These were described as the worst atrocities committed since the resurgence of M23 in 2021.
On 20 August, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported more than 319 civilians killed in just one month. These numbers are not abstract they are our neighbours, our brothers, our sisters.
Remembering the Victims
On 2 August 2025, the DRC once again marked the Genocost commemoration, remembering millions of Congolese killed in three decades of wars. The memorial in Kinshasa, with its 93 steles and eternal flame, stands as a symbol of remembrance. This year, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege warned against a plan to Balkanize the DRC and denounced the silence of the international community. Yet in Goma, the killings continue.
A Call for Solidarity
We Congolese youth still believe in peace. We are ready to work, to learn, and to contribute to healing our nation. But our exclusion from global platforms like the Global Unites Summit shows how often our voices are silenced.
We ask the world:
- Do not turn away from Goma.
- Do not normalise the daily killings of civilians.
- Stand with us in our struggle for justice and peace.
Until when will this brutality be tolerated?