Ebola
Key documentations and products developed by partners for supporting RCCE for Ebola Response
Situation on EBOLA
The health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province. This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018. (WHO, 23 Apr 2021)
The [DR] Congo today kicked off Ebola vaccination in Mbandaka, the capital city of Equateur Province in the north-west, to halt the spread of the virus following an outbreak which has claimed two lives since 21 April. Around 200 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine have been shipped to Mbandaka from the eastern city of Goma. More doses will be delivered progressively in the coming days. The vaccination uses the “ring strategy” where the contacts and the contacts of contacts of confirmed Ebola patient are given the vaccine as well as frontline and health workers. So far, 233 contacts have been identified and are being monitored. Three vaccination teams are already on the ground and will work to reach all the people at high risk. To date, two cases, both deceased, have been confirmed since the outbreak began. The disease has currently been reported only in Mbandaka health district. (WHO, 27 Apr 2021)

RCCE Resources on EBOLA

Ebola Communication Preparedness Implementation Kit
READY
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This Ebola Communication Preparedness Implementation Kit (I-Kit) provides national and local stakeholders, as well as program managers, with key considerations and a roadmap for instituting and implementing critical, relevant, practical and timely communication for responding
to the threat of an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. The I-Kit guides countries in social and behavior change communication (SBCC) and risk communication activity planning, including communication plan development for every stage of an Ebola response.

Ebola Stigma Toolkit
WOMEN’S CAMPAIGN INTERNATIONAL
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This toolkit is written to help the mobilizer and communicator talk about these concerns and fears in their community. The toolkit includes Exercises and Group Discussions where community members can talk about these fears and how these fears affect survivors, family members, orphans and health workers. The toolkit also has Exercises for what community members can do to reduce discrimination against survivors and support a positive community for them.

RCCE Preparedness and Readiness Framework
WHO/UNICEF/IFRC |2018
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This RCCE Framework sets out overarching considerations regarding RCCE for the
preparedness and readiness to respond to an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak. This framework describes work that is currently active in North Kivu, led by the Congolese health authorities and local bodies, and supported by other national and international partners.

RCCE for Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Response
UNICEF | 2020
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The prolonged outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has had consequences for the countries neighbouring the affected provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. Over the past 18 months, UNICEF has supported four countries categorized as priority one (Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda), as well as Tanzania, in enhancing their readiness to respond to the imminent risk of cross-border EVD transmission.
Many lessons have been learnt, challenges tackled, and progress made during the longest-known preparedness effort for a public health emergency globally – some of which could be applied during other outbreaks, including the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This report explores the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) undertaken for EVD preparedness in the priority countries and the main takeaways from these initiatives, based on a regional review and stocktaking meeting that UNICEF hosted in Nairobi, Kenya on 28–29 January 2020.

Collective approaches to RCCE in the Ebola response in North Kivu (DRC)
HPG, RISD, ODI | 2020
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On 1 August 2018, the 10th epidemic of Ebola virus disease was declared by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). With a total of 3,463 cases and more than 2,200 deaths (WHO, 2020a), it is the world’s second largest Ebola epidemic after the West African outbreak. The epidemic is also intertwined with years of conflict, insecurity, chronic and acute humanitarian needs and population displacements.
This complexity has meant the response faced significant access challenges as well as community distrust. About a year into the response, a perception survey carried out in Béni, North Kivu revealed that only 27% of affected communities agreed with decisions made by humanitarian actors; 19% believed their opinion was taken into account; and just 34% knew how to make a complaint or give feedback.
Finding a systematic and predictable model of coordination to collectively engage with communities in a meaningful and coordinated way has been a significant challenge, one which is examined in this report. The paper identifies lessons from the 10th Ebola outbreak that must be seized both for current and future responses in DRC, as well as globally, to support more systematic and collective approaches to risk communication and community engagement.
Tools Repository
Tools compiled by the Collective Service for Ebola Response
Coordination
Guidance, ToRs
Communication
Contents and Tools
M&E
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Feedback
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Planning
Strategies and plans
Research and Evidence
Social Science resource (En) (Fr)
Capacity Building
Training for practicionners, ToT, Training for media

Previous Ebola Responses
Folders and shared drives
Mbandaka Outbreak 2022
Shared drive of Ebola RCCE Working Group from Mbandaka (DRC) 2022 Outbreak
Guinea Outbreak 2020
Shared drive of Ebola RCCE West and Central Africa Working Group (2020)
Beni Outbreak 2021
Shared drive of Ebola RCCE Working Group from Beni (DRC) 2021 Outbreak
Knowledge Hub on EBOLA
Ebola Commuication Network
Communication materials, tools and resources designed to help address and prepare for Ebola outbreak
Community engagement hub
Selected documentation, guidance and tools on engaging community for Ebola Response
Social Science in action
Selected social science reports or briefs on Ebola outbreak compiled by SSHAP
Ebola anthropology
Documentation on community engagement with crucial socio-cultural and political dimensions of the Ebola outbreak.
From the ground
Adapting an Ebola feedback mechanism for COVID-19
A case study on how, in DRC, an interagency community feedback mechanism originally established to better understand people’s perceptions of the Ebola virus has been adapted to gather insights on COVID-19, helping to guide and shape the response at local and national levels.
We have done great work – in this area more than 2,000 people have been vaccinated – but with reduced funding there have been fewer NGOs active than before, which unfortunately sent a message that COVID-19 was not so important.
As Ministry of Health we don’t have the funds and capacity to continue activities without the NGOs, so it ends up being stop-start, but to be sustainable we need to be able to continue day-to-day, it all boils down to lack of consistent funding.