Africa

MSF calls for an “urgent response” to the “absolutely shocking” humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC

MSF calls for an "urgent response" to the "absolutely shocking" humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC

The NGO warns of the risk of disease spread and the restriction of access to health in various areas of North Kivu

4 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called for an “urgent response” on Tuesday to the humanitarian crisis in the province of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which it has described as “absolutely shocking in its scale and gravity”.

“The crisis in North Kivu is absolutely staggering in its scale and severity, but the humanitarian response is too slow in too many places,” said Avril Benoit, MSF’s US director, who is currently based in Goma. “There is an evident lack of help that reaches people with basic needs for housing, medicine, food and drinking water. We see that the health impact is enormous and is increasing,” she added.

Around a million people have fled their homes in the province due to an upsurge in fighting between the Army and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in the last year, a situation in which the victims are exposed to the risk of cholera, measles, malnutrition and sexual violence in the absence of an adequate response to the crisis.

Those displaced by violence in recent months are residing with families in host towns or in informal facilities, including tents made of plastic or mosquito nets around the North Kivu capital, Goma. In addition, other people are housed in churches and schools in the area.

The NGO teams have been working in the informal camps around Goma since May 2022, where they provide free medical care, drinking water, latrines and showers. In the Bulengo settlement there is one latrine for every 500 people, one tenth of the number needed in a humanitarian emergency, while in Lushagala the displaced live on one liter of drinking water a day, well below the standard of 15 liters a day .

In addition, nearly 3,000 accommodations have been built in the last year to accommodate some 15,000 people in the surroundings of Goma, although the coordinator of the MSF project in the city, Abdou Musengetsi, has lamented that “it is a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people camping at the city gates. “Families have been at the mercy of the rains, epidemics and violence for months, as demonstrated by the worrying number of victims of sexual violence that we treat every day in our medical facilities,” he explained.

This situation creates ideal conditions for the spread of disease, with recent outbreaks of measles and cholera north of Goma. In addition, the situation is critical in Bulengo and Lushagala, where suspected measles cases have multiplied in recent weeks, with 2,500 patients with cholera symptoms and more than 130 children with measles in March in Bulengo alone.

“It is a shocking situation,” stressed the MSF representative in the DRC, Raphael Piret. “Our teams are working around the clock to fight cholera and cope with the growing number of measles cases, but they are completely overwhelmed. With a humanitarian and health disaster unfolding before our eyes, increase assistance to the displaced, in Goma and other places, it is an urgent matter,” he said.

On the other hand, MSF has emphasized the impact of the road blockade due to the fighting north of Goma, in the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru and Lubero, which has caused access to these areas, known as the ” granaries” of North Kivu, are sealed and isolate the population, unable to sell their crops to buy basic products, which have also suffered an increase in their prices.

The situation has also caused many medical facilities to run out of medicine, with some centers in Rutshuru without supplies for months. In addition, food insecurity is increasing in the province, with more than a third of the population at risk, according to United Nations data. MSF-supported health centers in Rutshuru cared for more than 8,500 malnourished children in 2022, an increase of nearly 70 percent on the previous year.

“It seems that the people here have been abandoned,” lamented the project coordinator of the non-governmental organization in Rutshuru, Monique Doux. “For months, MSF has been the only humanitarian organization working in the Rutshuru territory, but the needs of the inhabitants far exceed our capacity to respond,” she stressed.

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