As an outbreak of Ebola takes hold in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, women and girls cannot be left to bear the burden of this growing crisis.
For women and girls, the consequences are especially severe. The outbreak is unfolding in areas of the DRC already strained by conflict, displacement and fragile health systems. As primary caregivers and frontline health workers, women are caring for sick family members and delivering essential services, often at considerable personal risk. Pregnant women may delay or avoid seeking care because they fear exposure in health facilities.
UNFPA is supporting the broader Ebola response by helping ensure safe pregnancy and childbirth and the continuity of critical reproductive health services. We are also working with communities and survivors of gender-based violence to facilitate access to trusted information and support. These components are central to protecting women and girls, supporting frontline health workers and ensuring that fear and stigma do not obstruct the Ebola response and continued delivery of other essential services.
In any Ebola outbreak, trust means the difference between containment and wider spread. When fear takes hold, people delay care, and avoid health facilities, turning away from treatment that can save their lives. UNFPA is embedded in many affected communities through our work with midwives, health workers, women’s groups, young people and survivors of violence. These relationships allow us to reach women and girls with accurate information about disease prevention; and try to boost confidence in essential health services.
UNFPA is working with the concerned governments, communities and partners to keep maternity services open and safe, strengthen infection prevention in reproductive health facilities, support midwives and frontline health workers, protect survivors of gender-based violence, and ensure women and girls can continue to access the care they need with dignity.
Without the right protection, hospitals, and the maternity wards within them, can become active transmission sites. During the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, maternal mortality rose by an estimated 75 per cent — not only because of Ebola infections, but because of the strain on essential health services.
I call on the international community to act with urgency, generosity and solidarity. Early support for this critical work will save lives, protect health systems and help prevent this outbreak from spreading. Even amidst fear and uncertainty, women continue to give life — our collective responsibility is to ensure they do not risk losing theirs in the process.
