France, Oct. 31 -- At the close of an international conference in Paris on the Great Lakes region, French President Emmanuel Macron has announcedthat €1.5 billion has been pledged in aid. Meanwhile the airport in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will reopen to humanitarian flights.

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, as the United States and other wealthy nations dramatically scale back international assistance.

The conference in Paris, co-hosted by France and Togo, and where around 60 countries and organisations were represented, mobilised more than €1.5 billion in international aid for the region, Macron an...