DRC

Only one in five health facilities have access to enough clean water, in Ituri, one of the epicenteres of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to new Oxfam field data. The findings raise urgent concerns about the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus —access to clean water remains the first line of defense against transmission— raising fears that the true scale of the outbreak is underestimated.

Reacting to the World Health Organization’s declaration of the Ebola outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) — with over 400 suspected cases and 89 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo — Dr. Manenji Mangudu, Oxfam Country Director in the DRC, said: “ With millions lacking access to functioning health facilities, this novel strain risks an already catastrophic crisis over the edge."  

New Oxfam, Fair Finance International and 11.11.11. report exposes how Europe’s banks and investors are blindly investing in mining companies linked to land grabs, pollution and human rights violations. This comes ahead of the EU’s Raw Materials Week.  

Ebola is spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, putting already vulnerable communities at greater risk. Here’s what you need to know about the situation and why aid cuts matter. Oxfam’s Ebola response focuses on providing clear health information and working with local partners leading prevention efforts to stop the virus from spreading, but the response remains critically limited and urgently needs more funding to save lives.

Preventable diseases are sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Cholera cases increased by 326, Mpox by 269, and measles by 95 people in North Kivu alone, during the last week of February, according to Oxfam’s partners on the ground. 

The MPox epidemic has reached alarming levels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as more than 15,000 cases and over 540 deaths have been reported across the country since the beginning of the year. Oxfam is mounting an immediate response particularly in the most affected province of Equateur.  

Reacting to the outcome of the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its neighbours, held in Paris today, at which countries pledged a total of $2 billion – Oxfam in Africa Director Fati N’Zi Hassane said: “It is morally incomprehensible that Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan – among the world's most fragile states –bear the brunt of Sudan’s conflict while the richest nations slack.   

The threat of “COVID famines” and widespread extreme hunger are setting off every alarm bell within the international community, but so far sluggish funding of the UN's appeal is hampering humanitarian agencies’ efforts to deliver urgent assistance to people in need.

More than 52 million people in 18 countries across southern, eastern and central Africa are facing up to crisis levels of hunger as a result of weather extremes, compounded by poverty and conflict.

Hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicines, 11 aid agencies warned today.