Internet also remains depressed in the provincial capital and only mobile phone networks work, with M23 fighters apparently in control of “a significant portion of the city” After intense clashes with the Congolese armyUN agencies reported Wednesday.
The help teams of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) “cannot move freely to support hospitals, even ambulances cannot work. It is a situation that in public health is a nightmare “, Said Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, who represents in the RDC.
'Vulnerable people need us'
Talking with UN newsDr. Sambo added: “We just hope the situation returns to normal for the government … vulnerable people really need us. “
The conditions in the provincial rubber capital are still “terrible,” added, without running water, electricity cut and civilians trapped, including health professionals.
Echoing those concerns, a high King Maintenance official of the UN warned that the level of suffering among those trapped in violence was “unimaginable.”
Vivian Van de Perre, special deputy director of protection and operations in the UN stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) to the Security Council Tuesday night. Among the M23 rebels backed by Rwanda and the Congolese forces while fighting for rubber control.
Mass and fear displacement
Before the M23 fighters locked themselves in rubber, more than 700,000 people displaced internally lived around the provincial capital. But hundreds of thousands fled in advance of the clashes between the rebels backed by Rwanda and the RDC troops, which caused a renewed alarm about the greater spread of mortal disease.
“When you have up to 700,000 people living in camps, you can imagine human suffering,” said the WHO official UN news, pointing out “much in progress [disease] outbreaks ”in the north and south of Kivu: two regions rich in minerals near the Rwanda border, where dozens of armed groups have had dominance for decades.
Always present disease
Repeated Mass displacement in RDC has created ideal conditions for the spread of many endemic diseases In camps and surrounding communities in the Kivus, including cholera (more than 22,000 cases and 60 deaths in 2024), measles (about 12,000 cases and 115 deaths) and malaria, as well as chronic child malnutrition.
In August last year, WHO general director Adhanom Ghebreyesus also declared that MPOX's outbreak is an emergency of public health of international concern.
Despite an initial “robust” response to the threat of Mpox by WHO and national partners that has been coordinated by Kinshasa and field offices in rubber and South Kivu, Dr. Sambo warned that Patients with MPOX had fled at least one camp treatment center and now now lived in reception communities and with families.
“So, we are afraid that the disease spreads widely in the communities, but at this point we cannot say because we have not been able to get there and evaluate what is happening at this time.”
Increased children separations: UNICEF
The representative of the UNICEF Children's Agency in the RDC, Jean Francois Basse, described the rubber situation as “extremely serious”, which further complicates an already serious humanitarian crisis.
He highlighted the severe difficulties facing the displaced population, including exposure to traumatic events, hunger, thirst and exhaustion.
Beyond health risks, he said that there has been a It arises in the number of children separated from their parents, making them vulnerable to kidnapping, recruitment of armed groups and sexual violence.
The agency urgently asks for $ 22 million to continue providing support to save lives, which includes clean water, adequate sanitation, medical supplies, treatment for seriously malnourished children and protection services.
Basse emphasized the need for the parties in the conflict to stop the military escalation, which exacerbates the suffering of children and worsens the already frightening humanitarian conditions.
