Media Advisory: UN Humanitarian Chief and UNICEF Executive Director to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo 17-21 March 2019
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WHO: Henrietta F. Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
WHAT: Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo WHEN: 17-20 March for USG Lowcock and 17-21 for ED Fore
WHERE: Kinshasa and Ituri and North Kivu provinces UNICEF’s Executive
Director Henrietta F. Fore and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 17 to 21 March.
The humanitarian situation in DRC is one of the largest and most complex in the world. Nearly 13 million Congolese are facing food insecurity in 2019, including over 4 million malnourished children, of whom at least 1.3 million are severely malnourished. The latest Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri has killed more than 500 people, while cholera and measles continue to spread and sexual and gender-based violence remains widespread.
Mr. Lowcock and Ms. Fore will meet with Government officials and other stakeholders in Kinshasa and travel to parts of North Kivu and Ituri provinces, to see first-hand the humanitarian situation and response, including to the Ebola epidemic, and meet with people affected by the crisis.
The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan requires US$1.65 billion to provide 9 million people with life-saving assistance. Of this amount, UNICEF needs $326 million to meet the humanitarian needs of 4.3 million children.
For more details on this mission and for interview requests, please contact:
On the mission: Yvon Edoumou, edoumou@un.org, +243970003750 Najwa Mekki, nmekki@unicef.org, +1917 209 1804
In Geneva: Vanessa Huguenin, huguenin@un.org +41 79 202 68 44
In New York: Russell Geekie, geekie@un.org, +1 917 331 0393, Christopher Tidey, ctidey@unicef.org, +1 917 340 3017