News24 | DRC's Goma airport to reopen for humanitarian flights - Macron

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 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) in international aid pledged for Africa’s Great Lakes region, which is plagued by a humanitarian crisis. EXPLAINER | What is happening in the DRC and why are M23 rebels fighting? “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, 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. Macron said: The DRC is rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, and three decades of conflict in the country’s north-east, as different factions fight over the resources, have claimed millions of lives and left the region ravaged.