Democratic Republic of the Congo: United Nations (UN) scales up food aid as Ebola spreads

Download logo
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that nearly three months into the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Bundibugyo strain continues to spread, with Bas-Uélé now becoming the sixth affected province.

As of 12 August, 4,665 confirmed cases and 2,184 deaths have been recorded by the national authorities, with a case fatality rate of nearly 47 per cent.

As the outbreak expands, food assistance is also being scaled up to support patients and communities affected by Ebola.* Starting tomorrow, the World Food Programme (WFP) will extend its hot meal programme to additional Ebola treatment centres in the provinces of Haut-Uélé and Ituri.

Since the end of May, WFP has provided more than 260,000 hot meals at treatment and isolation centres across the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

WFP also provided food to families affected by Ebola and people under confinement, reaching 27,000 people, while supporting 36,000 people facing acute food insecurity in affected areas.

This assistance is particularly important, as 2.6 million people are facing acute food insecurity across Ebola-affected areas in eastern DRC at crisis level or worse. More than half of them are in the province of Ituri, the epicentre of the outbreak. However, the level of response is far outpaced by the scale of needs.

Partners warn that the outbreak is deepening food insecurity. The food security sector is only 25 per cent funded, so urgent additional funding is needed to ensure life-saving food aid reaches those who need it.

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with urgent support.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).