With millions of people on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and children facing unspeakable violence, the Democratic Republic of Congo was the most neglected crisis in 2017, according to a survey of aid agencies.

Overshadowed by the Syrian war and Rohingya refugee exodus from Myanmar, Congo barely made headlines despite horrific violence that has erupted in the center of the vast country, they said.

These children deserve the world’s attention. The violence which is robbing a generation of an education and forcing them to grow up in a world of fear has got to stop.

The Central African Republic, with its “off the charts” vulnerability, and Yemen - ravaged by war and hunger - ranked behind Congo in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of 20 leading aid organizations.

An insurrection against the government in the Greater Kasai region has displaced more than 1 million people in what the Norwegian Refugee Council called a “mega-crisis”.

Food shortages have left millions hungry with hundreds of thousands of children at risk of dying.

Agencies have received accounts of mass killings, rapes, and beheadings. There have also been reports of horrendous attacks on babies and young children.

Read the full article on the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.