Democratic Republic of the Congo

The WFP reached 5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018, double the number reached last year.  WFP significantly expanded its operations there due to widening violence and displacement, poor harvest and endemic poverty, with scaled up interventions in Ituri, Tanganyika and North and South Kivu.

In Afghanistan, humanitarian organizations in Herat City have started distributing food and non-food items to displaced people who have been affected by drought.  As part of the ongoing full-scale drought response, WFP and its partners reached nearly 287,000 affected people from 6 to 12 December with food and cash assistance.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Kacou Houadja Léon Adom (Côte d’Ivoire):

The High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration launched their regional refugee and migrant response plan for Venezuela, the first of its kind in the Americas.  The plan will respond to the needs of Venezuelans on the move, and for next year require $378 million.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock announced today a $10 million regional contribution from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) towards mitigating the possible impact of the current Ebola outbreak in the Demoractic Republic of the Congo should it spread to neighbouring countries.

A peacekeeper from Malawi was found alive in the Beni area of North Kivu Province on Friday, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports.  He went missing on 14 November after the launch of the mission’s joint operation with Congolese forces to neutralize rebel fighters.

Noting that 2019 will mark 40 years of conflict in Afghanistan, the United Nations Children’s Fund says 2018 has been especially challenging.  A spike in violence, unprecedented drought and poverty has taken a disproportionate toll on children:  5,000 were killed or maimed in the first three quarters, compared to all of 2017.

The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced today that the first ever multi-drug trial for the treatment of Ebola has begun.  World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it an important step to finding a treatment that will save lives.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Ma Zhaoxu (China):

The Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Pierre Krähenbühl, praised the Agency’s donors in Amman today for collectively helping to reduce its $446 million budget shortfall to $21 million.   The Agency was able to open its 711 schools on time as a result.