Highlights
• WFP supports the government and the wider humanitarian community as Ebola outbreak is declared.
• The shift to cash-based assistance continued in the Kasais. One out of four beneficiaries received cash instead of food in April.
• A 13 April conference in Geneva saw donors pledge USD 528 million for humanitarian assistance in DRC.
• Seasonal rainfall continued until the end of April, causing severe road deterioration and delayed food transportation.
Situation Update
• On 08 May, the government declared an Ebola outbreak in the Équateur Province, after two patients with hemorrhaegic fever from the town of Bikoro tested positive for the Ebola virus. The risk of it spreading is higher than during previous outbreaks due to the areas’s proximity of the Congo river and to Mbandaka, a city with one million inhabitants.
• Some progress towards holding national elections and fewer marches organised by CLC, a Catholic protest movement, contributed to somewhat reduced political tensions. A major opposition party succeeded in campaigning peacefully in the capital in April.
• The rainy season was more severe and lasted longer than usual in the south of the country. The dry season started in May which should improve access and food transportation to remote areas in the coming weeks.
• Ituri: After a relatively peaceful decade, an old conflict between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups flared up again this year and, by March, had forced several hundred thousand people to leave their homes. Some 61,000 Congolese crossed Lake Albert to reach Ugandan refugee camps. With increased MONUSCO and national army presence in Djugu, a conflict hotspot, the security situation started improving.
• Kasais: Relative stability, albeit fragile, allowed for the reopening of the Angolan border. Nonetheless, inter-ethnic tension and violence raise protection concerns, especially in Kamonia and Mweka territories. Food assistance will be required for months to come due to missed harvests and destroyed food stocks. The prevalence of children suffering from acute malnutrition is particularly alarming.
• Tanganyika: The intercommunal conflict between Twa and Luba in Nyunzu, Manono and Kabalo territories has displaced more than half a million people. During the last few weeks, new waves of displaced people were registered in Kalemie, the provincial capital.