WHO appoints senior Ebola coordinator to strengthen response in DRC

World Health Organization Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus signed a joint letter with UN Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher endorsing Julien Harneis as the new Senior Ebola Coordinator in Kinshasa. The appointment is intended to improve coordination across the UN system as the Ebola outbreak spreads across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, now affecting 34 health zones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

The response is hampered by ongoing conflict and severe hunger. The United Nations World Food Programme is providing nutrition support and humanitarian logistics to more than 1.2 million people, delivering hot meals to patients and caregivers and supplying food rations to quarantined communities. Thirty of the affected zones are experiencing crisis‑level hunger. The WFP is seeking US$72 million for the next six months to sustain food assistance, air services and logistics operations.