SERVICES: National Platforms
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Context: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is grappling with the world's second largest Ebola epidemic on record, with more than 2000 lives lost and 3000 confirmed infections since the outbreak was declared on 1 August 2018 (WHO/MoH). The outbreak is occurring in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. The WHO reported that ‘from 13 to 19 January 2020, 15 new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were reported from North Kivu Province’.
While significant efforts are being made in terms of overall coordination of the response, work is still ongoing to ensure a more systematic approach to CCE/AAP and having a wider-than health approach.
Government links: The Commission Communication de Risque et Engagement Communautaire (CREC) in Goma has a sub-group tasked to coordinate key messages related to the Ebola response. A new CREC taskforce on community feedback has been established. Working in cooperation with the Ministry for Health, WHO convenes a weekly Ebola North Kivu Risk Communication and Community Engagement Partners Call.
Leads/Chairs/Co-Chairs: Efforts are ongoing by a number of agencies to better harmonise their efforts
Contact: WHO Maria Fernanda FALERO CUSANO, falerom@who.int
National and international actors involved: Key actors in the CCE/AAP space include: National Red Cross Society and national and local NGOs and CSOs; and many CDAC members including WHO, OCHA, UNICEF, IOM, WFP, UNFPA, Internews, Translators without Borders, Anthrologica, Save the Children among numerous others.
Donors: A number of individual agencies have funds for their AAP/CCE projects. H2H Network provided CCE funding to Internews and TWB.
Opportunities and challenges: Support for building on the national humanitarian architecture is a put in place by CREC (see above). Ensuring all UN agencies with a coordination mandate play a leadership role in their designated coordination area to apply CCE/AAP good practice. Language gaps continue to impede more effective two-way CCE/AAP efforts. Using the response to leverage the establishment of a National CCE/A Preparedness Platform to address many of the current challenges in a future disaster response.
