The year 2019 was marked by multiple alerts on the Ebola virus epidemic which caused enough deaths in the province of North Kivu, in Beni and Butembo, the epicenter of the Ebola virus for a year according to the report of the World Health Organization. The neighboring towns of Beni and Butembo which can easily and at any time be affected are the city of Goma which is 300 km from Beni with a very concentrated population of at least 2 million inhabitants. With such a density, the risk of contamination is very high and Bukavu, which is 250 km from Goma, is also at high risk.
On the other hand, the DRC is still recovering from a series of conflicts that erupted in the 1990s, creating a prolonged economic and social recession between 2001 and 2019.
ActionAid intervention in year 2019 focused on:
- Gender-responsive public education and urban services;
- Women's leadership, protection and resilience in conflict, disaster and occupation;
- Responses to humanitarian emergencies;
- Civic participation and state accountability and
- Women's economic justice.