Democratic republic of congo population

Download logo With widening violence, largescale displacement, poor harvests and endemic poverty nearly doubling the number of acutely food insecure people in DRC this year to 13.1 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) significantly expanded its operations, reaching a record 5 million, a twofold increase from 2017. Building on a surge in food assistance that averted famine in Kasai and Kasai Central, the UN agency quickly scaled up its interventions in the troubled eastern provinces of Ituri, Tanganyika and North and South Kivu, where flaring conflicts forced many more people from their homes. Assistance was provided in the form of commodities and cash, and specially fortified foods for the treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition, which affects 4.6 million children countrywide. Improved funding* is allowing the restoration of full food rations to some WFP recipients who had had to make do with half the programmed quantities for many months. “This has been a year of … [Read more...] about In a year of deepening hunger, World Food Programme (WFP) reaches a record 5 million people in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is occurring in an unforgiving context. Non-engagement from communities and conflict continue to hamper response activities in some affected areas. Moreover, poor infection prevention and control (IPC) practices across numerous private and public health centers remain a major source of amplification of the outbreak and risk to health and other frontline workers. Despite these challenges, substantial progress has been made on multiple fronts to address the situation, and daily successes are being observed in the implementation of proven public health measures alongside newer tools, such as vaccination and novel therapeutics. Together with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and our partners, WHO is further scaling up our response to the developing situation. WHO especially emphasizes the need to continuously improve quality, judiciously deploy new tools at our disposal, and sustain international commitment to … [Read more...] about Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo

This is DRC’s tenth and most serious epidemic of Ebola since the virus was discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what was then called Zaire. Forty years later, despite a massive and coordinated mobilization by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Congolese Ministry of Health and organizations such as MSF, the deadly virus is still spreading.  The newest urban locations to be affected are the city of Butembo, as well as Kalenguta, 25km to its north, and Katwa, 30km to its east. These places have all seen an increase in confirmed cases of Ebola as well as some resistance from the community. For now, the number of cases in Butembo’s city centre is low, but cases are rising quickly in its eastern suburbs and outlying isolated districts. “We are very concerned by the epidemiological situation in the Butembo area” says John Johnson, MSF project coordinator in Butembo. “We now know that this outbreak will last and that we must increase our efforts … [Read more...] about Nord Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: Ebola epidemic spreads further into urban communities and isolated areas

Download logo UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is gravely concerned for the safety of tens of thousands of civilians in the north-eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where violence by armed groups has recently claimed more than 20 lives. The attacks are on the rise in the Beni area of North Kivu Province and further north in Ituri Province, both situated near the border with Uganda. It is estimated that more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu. An estimated half a million people have been forced from their homes this year alone. UNHCR is calling on all parties involved in the conflict to protect and respect the lives of civilians displaced in a region that is already having to respond to a deadly outbreak of Ebola. An attack by the main rebel groups, the Allied Democratic Forces – National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-Nalu) in the city of Beni in North Kivu last weekend killed more than 20 people, most of them civilians. While … [Read more...] about UNHCR alarm at recent attacks and rising displacement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Download logo The Republic of Congo, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners started today a vaccination campaign to control the spread of yellow fever in the port city of Pointe Noire and surrounding areas. More than 1 million people from nine months of age are expected to be vaccinated in this six-day campaign. The vaccination campaign uses doses from the global emergency Yellow Fever vaccine stockpile managed by the International Coordination Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG) and funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The ICG coordinates the timely and equitable provision of vaccines during outbreaks and maintains an emergency stockpile of six million doses of yellow fever vaccine, which is continually replenished. Gavi will also cover operational costs for this campaign. The immunization drive is a response to a laboratory-confirmed yellow fever case, which tested positive on 21 August 2018, after visiting a rural area. Since then, no other case has … [Read more...] about The Republic of Congo to vaccinate more than one million people against yellow fever