Project profile — Combatting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This project proposes supplementing the response to Ebola through stabilization and peacebuilding efforts. The project aims to help contain the spread of Ebola, and reduce the community's violent resistance and mistrust of the Ebola response in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project also aims to build trust between communities and non-medical state actors, such as elements of the police, loyalist members of the DRC armed forces, administrative officials and media leaders who play a key role in response activities. Interventions such as community dialogues and participatory theatre work to bring together key stakeholders, including women and youth, and reduce the security dilemma in favour of local government, thereby enhancing existing stabilization interventions. These activities take place in Butembo and Beni, North Kivu, where most of the Ebola crisis has spread and where community engagement can strategically support the Ebola response.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved relationship skills between the communities themselves, and between the communities and medical and non-medical government actors involved in the Ebola virus disease; and (2) improved community communication practices, especially women’s networks, to counter rumours and false information related to the response to the Ebola virus disease.

Results achieved as of March 2021 include: (1) the integration of influential community leaders and the use of local expertise in various pillars of the Ebola response increased the local population’s confidence from 61% to 81% in the final study; (2) 412 respondents (202 women and 210 men) participated in the quantitative data collection; and (3) 65% of medical and non-medical staff report that popular resistance to the Ebola virus was reduced as a result of outreach efforts.