Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola Response Appeal
Humanitarian Action for Children
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children appeal helps support the agency’s work as it
provides conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition,
education, health and protection services. Read more about this year’s appeal here.
Ebola response snapshot
Appeal highlights
With over 3,300 confirmed cases, including more than 920 children, and over 2,200 deaths the Ebola outbreak declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 2018 is the country's largest-ever. The outbreak is also the world’s second-largest Ebola outbreak ever, the deadliest on record and the first in an active conflict zone.
Eighteen months after the outbreak was declared and had spread to three provinces and beyond national borders, and despite the recent decline in the number of reported cases, ongoing conflict, insecurity and population mobility are undermining timely response and increasing the risk that the virus will experience a resurgence and spread to new provinces.
Collective efforts are needed to definitively stop transmission in affected areas and minimize the risk of further spread into neighbouring provinces and countries.The outbreak has disproportionately affected women and children, who represent 56 per cent and 28 per cent of reported cases, respectively. Children are also affected by family separation and the loss of parents and caregivers. For families and children, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) has also undermined access to basic services such as health care and education. UNICEF is addressing these needs across its response, including through prevention efforts, treatment and psychological and social care.
Key planned results for 2020
3,223,053 (target for January to June 2020) out of 37,006,364 people (total target since the beginning of the response) reached with EVD messages through community engagement and interpersonal communication
46,200 (target for January to June 2020) out of 161,394 affected people (total target for August 2018 to June 2020) received psychosocial support
700,000 people benefited from improved access to WASH in areas affected by Ebola or at risk
Funding requirements for 2020
Country strategy
UNICEF is mobilizing all available resources to control, reduce and eliminate Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This includes risk communication and community engagement to increase community awareness, acceptance, involvement and ownership in the response. As part of infection prevention and control, UNICEF is training health workers and improving assessments of health facilities, equipment and decontamination processes in households, health facilities and spaces with confirmed cases of EVD.
Psychosocial support is being given to affected people, including contacts, survivors and separated and orphaned children. Patients, including children, are receiving case management (i.e., nursing, paediatric and nutritional care) in Ebola treatment and transit centres. Community-based projects designed to improve response effectiveness and promote community engagement and ownership are addressing priority needs and providing essential services where needed.
UNICEF is supporting key services, including clean water and sanitation, education, and uninterrupted routine medical care, especially vaccinations, for crisis-affected children, including separated and orphaned children. It is also making small infrastructure improvements to restore the enabling environment for primary health care and improve community resilience to other epidemics. UNICEF is also strengthening the capacities of health zones and provincial divisions, and implementing preparedness programmes in at-risk areas.
Programme targets
Find out more about UNICEF's work
Highlights
Humanitarian Action is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to realize the rights of every child. This edition of Humanitarian Action for Children – UNICEF’s annual humanitarian fundraising appeal – describes the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.
