UNCHR unable to supply soap to prevent Ebola spread due to 'unprecedented funding gap'

An "unprecedented" funding gap of $700 million [£619m] has left the United Nations' refugee arm unable to fund vital aid such as basic hygiene kits in areas where there are outbreaks of Ebola.

UNHCR said in Uganda, which is experiencing an Ebola outbreak, it is unable to procure enough soap and hygiene kits to help combat the deadly disease. Meanwhile, in Chad, water supply in camps has been cut due to fuel shortages. In Lebanon, 70,000 extremely vulnerable refugee families no longer receive their safety net help from UNHCR.

The organisation said a “ripple effect” from aid being diverted to Ukraine had left it with an urgent shortfall.

“This is a real, immediate emergency call with people’s lives and livelihoods on the line,” said Dominique Hyde, director of UNHCR’s division for external relations. “Needs are rising due to a confluence of war and violence as well as economic and geopolitical crosswinds.

Emergency response teams, isolation centres and treatment tents have been set up by the Ugandan health authorities around the central Mubende district after 17 recorded deaths and 48 confirmed cases from an outbreak of the Ebola virus. The first death from this outbreak of the Ebola-Sudan strain of the virus was announced on 19 September and as yet, there is no vaccine for this strain.

"While donors have once again been generous, new wars, especially in Ukraine, and unresolved crises mean that funding is not keeping up with the needs of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.”

The organisation said the unmet funding needs would result in cuts to services for rape survivors and care for mothers and babies in Ethiopia, or shelter for displaced people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The situation is also acute in countries like Bangladesh and Colombia.

Ms Hyde said: “People forced to flee already pay the price for conflicts that have ravaged their homelands. Further suffering this year and next can be reduced with swift international action.”

UNCHR said while donors, especially private companies, foundations and individuals, had contributed record levels of funding to the agency this year, the "ripple effects” of the Ukraine crisis were affecting its ability to deliver equitably around the world.

It warned that since highlighting the funding gap in 12 particularly underfunded operations earlier this year, UNHCR has received an additional $400m [£354m]. This has been critically important to maintaining operations. Yet even with this injection of funds, needs continue to grow and the gap for the UNHCR remains at $700m.