North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola centre not functional after violent attack (26.02.2019)

Ebola response at risk of failing without gaining acceptance of communities.

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 26, 2019 – Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has suspended activities in an Ebola Treatment Centre in Katwa, North Kivu, the international medical organization announced today. This comes after a violent attack on 24 February when the facility was partially burnt down.

At 10 pm on 24 February, unidentified assailants attacked the MSF-managed Ebola Treatment Centre in Katwa. After throwing stones at the facility, they set parts of the structure on fire and destroyed wards and equipment. The brother of a patient died while reportedly trying to escape the scene. The exact circumstances of his death are still unclear at this point.

“This attack was traumatic for patients, their relatives and staff present inside the centre at the time,” said Emmanuel Massart, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator in Katwa. “We managed to relocate all four confirmed and six suspected patients to nearby treatment centres, but this attack has crippled our ability to respond to what is now the epicentre of the outbreak.”

“Although the reasons behind the attack are unclear and such violence is unacceptable, what we know is that the actors of the Ebola response – MSF included – have failed to gain the trust of a significant part of the population,” said Meinie Nicolai, MSF’s General Director currently visiting North Kivu. “All those involved in this response must change their approach and truly engage with the grievances and fears of the communities.”

Previous Ebola outbreaks have demonstrated the importance of gaining the acceptance of the community. Without the communities trust, the sick and dead remain hidden and health workers risk being threatened or assailed.

More than six months after the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in North-Kivu and Ituri, the epidemic is not under control with more than 870 confirmed patients and more than 540 deaths. After some successes in stopping transmission in the initial epicentres of Mangina and Beni, and some ancillary locations such as Tchomia, Mutwanga, and Masereka, the epidemic has spread from four to 19 health zones. People continue to die in the community, and become infected in health centres, and the majority of new cases cannot be traced to known Ebola cases.

MSF activities in the Ebola response continue in Butembo, Bunia, Bwena Sura, Kayna and Biena.

Cameroon: Statement by the Embassy on U.S. Assistance (08.02.2019)

South Sudan: UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund allocates $2 million to critical Ebola activities (04.02.2019)

Burundi: Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres – Communique de Presse (01.02.2019)

Six months on, Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo now second largest in history (31.01.2019)

This is the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC and the country’s worst.

BANGKOK, Thailand, January 31, 2019 – Since the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was declared six months ago on 1st August 2018, more than 740 people – 30 per cent of whom are children – have been infected with the disease, including over 460 who have died, and 258 that have survived Ebola. Alongside the Government and partners, UNICEF is scaling up its response to assist victims, control the spread of the disease and ultimately end the deadly outbreak.

This is the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC and the country’s worst. It is also the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak in history after the one in West Africa in 2014-2016. The response to this latest outbreak continues to be hampered by insecurity, frequent movement of people in the affected areas, and resistance from some communities.

“While we have been able to largely control the disease in Mangina, Beni and Komanda, the virus continues to spread in the Butembo area, largely because of insecurity and population movement,” said Dr. Gianfranco Rotigliano, UNICEF Representative in the DRC. “We are scaling up our response and deploying additional staff in the health zones of Butembo and Katwa, where 65 per cent of the new Ebola cases in the last three weeks have occurred.” 

Since the beginning of the epidemic, UNICEF and its partners have deployed more than 650 staff to work with Government, civil society, churches, and non-governmental organizations – to assist people and families who’ve been infected and to raise awareness about the best hygiene and behavioural practices to prevent Ebola from spreading.

UNICEF’s Ebola response focuses on community engagement, providing water and sanitation, making schools safe from Ebola and supporting children and families infected and affected by Ebola. UNICEF aims to control and prevent the spread of the disease, and ultimately stop the outbreak; to reduce Ebola-related deaths among those infected; and to provide protection, alleviate suffering and give assistance to affected children and families.

People who’ve been infected, as well as affected families and their children, including children orphaned by Ebola and unaccompanied children, continue to receive psychosocial support to help them cope with the consequences of the Ebola disease. UNICEF is also providing a protective environment for children in schools and nutrition assistance, including to children and adults in Ebola Treatment Centers.

“Our teams in Mangina, Beni, Oicha, Komanda, Butembo and Lubero are working tirelessly with this multi-pronged approach to end the Ebola outbreak as quickly as possible, and to help affected children and families,” stressed Dr. Rotigliano.

To date, UNICEF and its partners have:

  • Reached out to more than 10 million people in affected areas with prevention messages in collaboration with community leaders and through mass media;
  • Provided drinking water to more than 1.3 million people in public places, health facilities and schools;
  • Trained 8,146 teachers on Ebola prevention measures;
  • Reached 157,133 children in 888 schools with prevention messages;
  • Provided assistance to 830 families directly affected by Ebola;
  • Identified 686 Ebola orphans and provided them with appropriate care.

RD Congo – Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba et Tanganyika : Note d’informations humanitaires du 24 janvier 2019 (24.01.2019)

‘Forgotten crisis’ in Cameroon, with attacks on the rise, millions in need of ‘lifesaving assistance’ (25.01.2019)

With needs rising by 31 per cent in a year, the UN today estimates that around 4.3 million people in Cameroon – one in six people and mostly women and children – require lifesaving assistance.

NEW YORK, United States of America, January 25, 2019 – Around 4.3 million Cameroonians, mostly women and children, are now in need of lifesaving assistance, the UN announced on Thursday, presenting it’s 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the West African country, in coordination with the Government and aid partners.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, Ms. Allegra Baiocchi, and Cameroon’s Civil Protection Director, Ms. Yap Mariatou, warned at the launch in Geneva, that the was a drastic increase in humanitarian need across the country.

“Hundreds of thousands of people on Cameroon’s territory need urgent assistance and protection,” Ms. Baiocchi said, adding that “attacks against civilians have increased and many conflict-affected people are surviving in harsh conditions without humanitarian assistance due to the dramatic underfunding of the response. Cameroon today can no longer be a forgotten crisis; it needs to be high on our agenda.”

With needs rising by 31 per cent in a year, the UN today estimates that around 4.3 million people in Cameroon – one in six people and mostly women and children – require lifesaving assistance.

The joint Humanitarian Response Plan 2019 seeks $299 million to assist 2.3 million vulnerable people, more than half of those in need. Last year, a $320 million response plan for Cameroon was only 40 per cent funded.

The aggravation of the conflict in western regions is the main driver behind the increase, with armed attacks in the far north, and new refugees coming from the Central African Republic also increasing demand for urgent aid.

Insecurity and violence in these regions have uprooted 437,000 people from their homes and forced over 32,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring Nigeria. Four million people are affected by the conflict in Cameroon’s west, says the UN.

In addition, due to the deteriorating situation in northeast Nigeria, more than 10,000 new refugees arrived in Cameroon in 2018, bringing the number of Nigerian refugees to 100,000.

Needs ‘likely to increase in coming years’

“The Government of Cameroon is responsible for the protection and wellbeing of its people and has been at the forefront of the response with its national and international partners,” added Ms. Yap Mariatou. “We acknowledge the scale of the different crises we face, and we encourage all the actors to work in close partnership to address the needs of Cameroonians and of the people we host.”

“Humanitarian needs are likely to increase in coming years,” said Ms. Baiocchi, adding that budgets had failed in increase adequately in recent years.

“Underfunding means we cannot do all we can to make a difference in the life of most vulnerable people across Cameroon, whether it is the girl who is missing school due to violence, the displaced mother struggling to feed her children, or the father who has lost his entire family.”

UNOCHA: Conflict in western Cameroon drives up humanitarian needs, international support urgently needed (24.01.2019)

Somalia: $1.08 billion required to support 3.4 million Somalis with life-saving and livelihood assistance (21.01.2019)

South Sudan: UNMISS – PoC Update (07.01.2019)