Humanitarian Fund releases USD 2.5 million to join the Government’s efforts to fight Ebola in Equateur Province [EN/FR]
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(Kinshasa, 3 October 2014): The Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Moustapha Soumaré, has allocated USD 2.56 million from the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) to fight the country’s latest outbreak of Ebola in Equateur Province.
As of 2 October, the highly contagious viral disease has killed 43 people out of 70 cases in the Boende district, over 1,000 km north of the capital Kinshasa. The humanitarian response is facing some logistical constraints due to the area’s remoteness. The quasi lack of roads forces aid actors to rely heavily on air operations; even with heavy-utility trucks, it takes many hours to go through the densely-wooded area and numerous streams and rivers to conduct medical operations.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which runs the United Nations Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS), a vital air operations program, will receive $1.8 million for the aerial transport of humanitarian personnel, medical supplies and equipment, and other essential cargo, and for the purchase of food for those infected with the virus, including their families within the quarantine zone. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) will use some $712,000 to finance health, water, hygiene, and sanitations projects. The UN agencies’ efforts are in support of the Congolese government. "This allocation was necessary because we must join efforts with the Government to stop Ebola now,” Humanitarian Coordinator Moustapha Soumaré said.
The current outbreak is the country’s seventh since the disease was discovered in 1976 in DRC.
The CHF was established in 2006 at the initiative of humanitarian donors to allow rapid and flexible financing to the most critical humanitarian needs. The Fund has received contributions from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
This funding comes as the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, a humanitarian fund established by the UN General Assembly, on 2 October allocated $1.95 million to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to support the ongoing Ebola response effort.