Democratic Republic of the Congo

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Joanna Wronecka (Poland):

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) launched a new website to identify laws and policies related to response efforts, featuring an interactive map with data from 140 nations and covering such areas as a country’s ability to diagnose HIV among babies and whether people are prosecuted for carrying condoms.

Today, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund released $19.5 million to assist 500,000 people in need of emergency food and other crucial support.  Toby Lanzer, the Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, said it comes at a critical time as aid agencies are running out of funds.

More than six months after its presidential elections, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is making satisfactory progress along the road to peace and stability, but many concerns remain, particularly in the east where armed groups remain active amid a renewed outbreak of Ebola, the Security Council heard today.

On 8 July 2019, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo received a briefing by the Chair of the Committee on his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates from 28 April to 6 May 2019.

Some 450 non-State combatants have been disarmed and demobilized in western Central African Republic since the signing of the peace agreement in February, according to the United Nations mission in that country, including elements of the Front Démocratique du Peuple Centraficain and the Union des Forces Républicaines.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General announced today he will reconvene the Emergency Committee on Ebola to assess the threat after yesterday’s confirmation of the first case in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He also raised concerns about targeted attacks against the Ebola health response.

A humanitarian emergency in Burkina Faso is worsening as recurrent armed attacks and insecurity continue to force people to flee their homes.  Nearly 220,000 people are now displaced - 50,000 more than in May - and rains are impeding access to basic services.

The cholera outbreak in Yemen has reached more than 460,000 suspected cases in 2019, exceeding the 380,000 total suspected cases in all of 2018.  While the United Nations and partners operate 1,200 treatment facilities, funding remains an urgent issue, with only 32 per cent of the $4.2 billion response plan met.

The World Food Programme is scaling up its relief operation for conflict-displaced people in north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo, where renewed inter-ethnic violence has forced tens of thousands from their homes. The country faces the world’s second-largest hunger crisis after Yemen, with 13 million people food insecure.