The World Bank Group on Wednesday announced it is offering another $300 million in crisis aid to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to stop the spread of the deadly the Ebola outbreak, reported Reuters.
The announcement comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current Ebola outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Earlier this month, the WHO officials made an appeal to the global community to provide support in the form of money, technical assistance, and human resources to support DRC’s fight against Ebola.
The US$300 million in grants and credits will be largely financed through the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and its Crisis Response Window, which is designed to help countries respond to severe crisis and return to their long-term development paths. The fund will be added to the $100 million the bank provided after Ebola appeared in August 2018.
“Together, we must take urgent action to stop the deadly Ebola epidemic that is destroying lives and livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement. “The communities and health workers on the front line of this outbreak urgently need more support and resources from the international community to prevent this crisis from worsening inside the country and from spreading across borders.”
The World Bank said the new crisis response aid will go towards the areas of the country impacted by the outbreak. It will cover the Ebola-affected health zones in DRC.
On Monday, DR Congo’s health minister Oly Ilunga resigned from his post in a dispute with President Felix Tshisekedi over the government’s Ebola response and plans to introduce a second vaccine. Ebola has killed more than 1,700 of the 2,500 people infected in DR Congo in the second-biggest epidemic since more than 11,300 people died between 2014 and 2016 in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
