Ebola Outbreak in North Kivu, DRC
This page collates briefings relevant to the recent outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (2018-2020).
The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform has supported UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and other partners through the production of evidence briefs highlighting key socio-cultural considerations relevant to control of the disease, including a separate focus on the outbreak in the Équateur province.
This page will be updated to include future briefs from both the Social Science in Humanitarian Action and other partners when available.

Photo credit: UNICEF/Nybo
Guerrishon, 5 months, smiles when he sees his mother, Collette, smiling back at him through the plastic separating them at an Ebola Treatment Centre in Beni, North Kivu province, in September 2019.
Local media

Briefing
6 ways to incorporate social context and trust in infodemic management
This brief explains how social science can inform infodemiology by making it more attuned to different social, political and cultural contexts and to the relationships between people and formal institutions.

Briefing
Politics, Factions and Violence: Listening to Local Voices on Ebola: Local Media Update
Summarising local media and messages circulating via social media outlets in February-April 2019 in the Beni and Butembo areas of North Kivu.

Briefing
Media and Local Messages on Ebola in the Grand Nord, DRC
An overview of key messages circulating on WhatsApp and in the local media in the Grand Nord in November-December 2018

Briefing
WhatsApp and Local Media (Grand Nord)
An overview of key messages circulating on WhatsApp and the local media (radio, print and video) in North Kivu in September 2018.
Contextual overview

Briefing
Ebola Preparedness and Readiness in Goma, DRC
Key considerations for Goma's local social and political structures.

Briefing
The Context of North Kivu Province, DRC
Key considerations about the context of North Kivu province including insecurity and local actors.
Health seeking behaviour

Briefing
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, North Kivu, DRC
Key considerations including recommendations to strengthen the mental health and psychosocial response.

Briefing
Changing Behaviours & Care-Seeking Practices in the Grand Nord, North Kivu, DRC
Key considerations and immediate recommendations related to community engagement.
Death, burials and mourning

Tools
Local burial and mourning practices: open-ended questions
Questionnaires for rapid quantitative surveys and qualitative appraisals of burial and funeral practices in the context of an Ebola outbreak.

Briefing
Burial, Funeral and Mourning Practices in North Kivu Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations of events related to death, burial, funerals (rites or ceremonies), and mourning.
Behavioural data compilations
![On 5 November, in the initial phases of U-Report's launch in Liberia, two adolescent girls who have been raising awareness of the technology among other youths record on paper the mobile numbers of new users, in the West Point neighbourhood of Monrovia, the capital. They used the traditional route of gathering new user data during a system outage. Part of the rollout process included identifying lingering glitches in the system. The adolescents are UNICEF-supported social mobilizers from the group Adolescents Leading an Intensive Fight against Ebola (A-LIFE); they underwent UNICEF training on U-Report and on how to use the technology to track data on EVD as well as on sexual health and teen pregnancy.
In November 2014, Liberia remains one of three countries in West Africa experiencing widespread and intense transmission of Ebola virus disease (EVD). UNICEF continues to support social mobilization efforts to raise awareness of the disease, its symptoms and how to prevent its spread all of which are critical to curtailing the unprecedented outbreak. U-Report, a text-based communication platform previously developed by UNICEF, was customized and deployed for use within Liberias mobilization efforts. Using Short Message Service (SMS), U-Report allows individual subscribers to ask questions about issues, to get real-time answers and to share information with other users U-reporters across the country. By giving people a new and effective platform for communication, it is intended to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement and behavioural change. [Note, this story captions applies to all images below.] UNICEF/Jallonzo](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/UNI174451_Med-Res-400x200.jpg)
Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #1
A rapid compilation of data analyses for November 2018 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
![On 5 November, in the initial phases of U-Report's launch in Liberia, two adolescent girls who have been raising awareness of the technology among other youths record on paper the mobile numbers of new users, in the West Point neighbourhood of Monrovia, the capital. They used the traditional route of gathering new user data during a system outage. Part of the rollout process included identifying lingering glitches in the system. The adolescents are UNICEF-supported social mobilizers from the group Adolescents Leading an Intensive Fight against Ebola (A-LIFE); they underwent UNICEF training on U-Report and on how to use the technology to track data on EVD as well as on sexual health and teen pregnancy.
In November 2014, Liberia remains one of three countries in West Africa experiencing widespread and intense transmission of Ebola virus disease (EVD). UNICEF continues to support social mobilization efforts to raise awareness of the disease, its symptoms and how to prevent its spread all of which are critical to curtailing the unprecedented outbreak. U-Report, a text-based communication platform previously developed by UNICEF, was customized and deployed for use within Liberias mobilization efforts. Using Short Message Service (SMS), U-Report allows individual subscribers to ask questions about issues, to get real-time answers and to share information with other users U-reporters across the country. By giving people a new and effective platform for communication, it is intended to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement and behavioural change. [Note, this story captions applies to all images below.] UNICEF/Jallonzo](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/UNI174451_Med-Res-400x200.jpg)
Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #2
A rapid compilation of data analyses for November 2018-February 2019 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #3
A rapid compilation of data analyses for February-May 2019 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #4
A rapid compilation of data analyses for June-August 2019 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #5
A rapid compilation of data analyses for September-November 2019 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
Border dynamics
![On 14 August 2018, 'Dieudonne' [not his real name], a thirteen year old boy who lost eight members of his immediate family to Ebola, stands in Ebola-affected Mangina, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“There were eight of them and they are all dead,” says Dieudonné*, a young 13-year-old boy living in Mangina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 27 cases of Ebola were recently confirmed. It all started when Dieudonné’s mother fell ill and died. “When we buried Mum, the family was next to her body,” the young boy explains. “Soon after, everyone began to have headaches and diarrhoea.”
When his big sister was admitted to the Ebola treatment centre, Dieudonné stayed in the little family home alone, the same house that was the starting point of all his hardship. “Everyone who entered our home fell sick,” the boy recalls. At only 13 years of age, Dieudonné has lost all his bearings, all the people that he loved and on whom he could count. “I don’t have anyone who can take care of me anymore,” sadly explains the young boy, who does not know if his sister will survive the disease.
Dieudonné is one of 53 children orphaned by Ebola that UNICEF has identified in the east of the DRC. He currently benefits from psychosocial, material and dietary support. Dieudonné was also vaccinated against the disease a few days ago.
The young boy does not what his future will be. “I have to continue to live but I do not know how I will make it,” he explains. “This is serious.”
Following the 1 August 2018 announcement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of a new Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu, UNICEF has mobilized its teams to help contain the spread of the disease and protect children. The impact of an outbreak on children can be far reaching. It’s known from earlier outbreaks in the DRC as well as in West Africa that children can be affected in various ways. Children ca UNICEF/UN0229875/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UN0229875-400x200.jpg)
Briefing
Cross-Border Dynamics Between South Sudan and DRC
Key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics between South Sudan and DRC including borderlands and trade dynamics.

Briefing
Cross Border Dynamics: Burundi-DRC
Key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics between Burundi and DRC including politicisation and armed groups.

Briefing
Rwanda – DRC cross border dynamics
This Key Considerations brief concerns cross-border dynamics between Rwanda and DRC, including cross-border relations and political and economic dynamics.

Briefing
Cross-Border Dynamics and Healthcare in West Nile, Uganda
Key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics and health structures and behaviours in the West Nile sub-region of north-west Uganda.

Briefing
Bushmeat in the Border Areas of South Sudan and DRC
Key considerations about bushmeat (meat derived from wild animals for human consumption) in the context of preparedness activities in South Sudan.
![On 14 August 2018, 'Dieudonne' [not his real name], a thirteen year old boy who lost eight members of his immediate family to Ebola, stands in Ebola-affected Mangina, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“There were eight of them and they are all dead,” says Dieudonné*, a young 13-year-old boy living in Mangina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 27 cases of Ebola were recently confirmed. It all started when Dieudonné’s mother fell ill and died. “When we buried Mum, the family was next to her body,” the young boy explains. “Soon after, everyone began to have headaches and diarrhoea.”
When his big sister was admitted to the Ebola treatment centre, Dieudonné stayed in the little family home alone, the same house that was the starting point of all his hardship. “Everyone who entered our home fell sick,” the boy recalls. At only 13 years of age, Dieudonné has lost all his bearings, all the people that he loved and on whom he could count. “I don’t have anyone who can take care of me anymore,” sadly explains the young boy, who does not know if his sister will survive the disease.
Dieudonné is one of 53 children orphaned by Ebola that UNICEF has identified in the east of the DRC. He currently benefits from psychosocial, material and dietary support. Dieudonné was also vaccinated against the disease a few days ago.
The young boy does not what his future will be. “I have to continue to live but I do not know how I will make it,” he explains. “This is serious.”
Following the 1 August 2018 announcement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of a new Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu, UNICEF has mobilized its teams to help contain the spread of the disease and protect children. The impact of an outbreak on children can be far reaching. It’s known from earlier outbreaks in the DRC as well as in West Africa that children can be affected in various ways. Children ca UNICEF/UN0229875/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UN0229875-400x200.jpg)
Briefing
Uganda-DRC Cross-Border Dynamics
This brief summarises key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics between Uganda and DRC, including surveillance and community engagement.