Relief Web Highlights The Severe Hunger Problems In DRC -- And How That Disproportionately Affects Women And Girls, This Morning...

While the straight ahead medical/vaccine news on arresting the latest Ebola outbreak (the 14^th by my count, since 1985) inside DRC is encouraging. . . it does highlight how endmeic serial crises like Ebola make things worse, on the basic human needs dimension, like food scarcity. [My immediately prior coverage, here.] Ebola has raged on and off for four decades, now in Sub-Saharan Africa. That toll is rapidly reaching the point of being. . . irreversible, as it has become generational now.

That is to say, while it may seem that the direct effects of what may turn out to only be a handful of deaths in Equater Province is manageable, and to some extent, already planned for. . . here in the fourth decade -- the strain this puts on an already overwhelmed public health effort more widely, becomes most apparent in the plight of the most vulnerable there, after a course of months, should the outbreak linger at all. These "knock on" hunger outbreaks tend to be proportionately most deeply suffered by women and girls. Here's the latest, overnight from ReliefWeb:

“. . .It is imperative we apply the lessons learned from past outbreaks to stop the spread of Ebola in DRC and beyond its borders. Women and girls are always more adversely affected during crises but are also key participants in the response to the virus and we must ensure the protection of women and girls throughout each of these multiple crises. The IRC stands in solidarity with the affected communities and is calling for immediate action and funding for frontline aid agencies to contain both outbreaks and prevent further spread.”

There are now more people facing a severe hunger crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo than has ever been recorded in any country. DRC ranks in the IRC’s emergency Watchlist top five for the third year in a row, reflecting persistent volatility in a country that is now in its fourth decade of a major humanitarian crisis. . . .

Do consider a donation to OCHA / The UN ReliefWeb -- or to Doctors Without Borders, to have a meaningful direct impact here. Be excellent to one another, now and always. . . .

नमस्ते