Statement by Eric Batonon, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) country director in DR Congo on the ongoing Ebola outbreak:
“The current Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak is unfolding in communities already exhausted by years of conflict and repeated displacement.
“In DR Congo’s Ituri province – the current epicentre – displaced communities have faced years in shelters designed for temporary stay, with poor sanitation and little access to healthcare. As armed groups have fought for control of land and valuable minerals, donors and diplomats have often looked the other way and so abandoned millions to lives dominated by repeated displacement and deprivation. This is the context in which the current Ebola outbreak has taken hold, and in part why case numbers continue to rise rapidly.
“Infection prevention and control measures have a vital role to play in the response. Communities must be placed at the heart of all response plans, and direct engagement and trust building remain the cornerstones of any successful strategy. Ebola can only be stopped when communities’ priorities dictate policy.
“In this regard, NRC is currently stepping up its Ebola response, with public engagement activities and community prevention measures. Through the establishment of handwashing stations and the distribution of hygiene products, NRC teams in Ituri are working to bolster infection prevention measures. In addition, our staff are working to prevent disruption to children’s learning and ensure that they can continue to access education in safe conditions. NRC staff are also working to assess the impact of this epidemic on the millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ituri as well as North and South Kivu provinces. This will help to better shape the response for communities that currently live in IDP sites, often in crowded conditions with poor sanitation.
“DR Congo has appeared on NRC’s annual list of top neglected displacement crisis every year in the last decade. And the international community continues to neglect the humanitarian situation in eastern DR Congo, even as international companies grow rich from its resources. It is now essential that donors ramp up efforts to ensure that the response to Ebola is able to move faster than the disease itself. Flexible and sustained funding and political engagement are vitally important, not only to support those caught in this outbreak but also to meet the pre-existing needs which have contributed to the severity of this epidemic." NRC
