This report is for supervisors managing ongoing Ebola outbreaks, or working on preparedness and recovery activities in regions at risk of, or affected by, Ebola epidemics. It is based on rapid and intensive ethnographic field research in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, undertaken less than a month after the epidemic was declared over in […]
This briefing paper summarises key considerations about the context of North Kivu province in relation to the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, August 2018. The province of North Kivu has six territories: Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, Walikale. At the time of writing, cases of Ebola had been positively confirmed in Beni territory, and […]
The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform is supporting UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and other partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province. The Platform has four key streams of action: 1) Rapid briefs – a series of rapid operational briefs are being produced. These focus on key […]
This brief summarises key socio-anthropological considerations regarding ‘indigenous communities’ in the context of the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, June 2018. Further participatory enquiry should be undertaken with the affected population, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations for the response and immediate recommendations related to engaging communities in Équateur Province have been prioritised. […]
On behalf of the Social Science for Humanitarian Action platform, Lys Alcayna-Stevens (Institut Pasteur) and Juliet Bedford (Anthrologica) have just published a brief summarising key considerations about the context of Équateur Province in relation to the Ebola outbreak in DRC, June 2018. […]
Why did Ebola response initiatives in the Upper Guinea Forest Region regularly encounter resistance, occasionally violent? Extending existing explanations concerning local and humanitarian “culture” and “structural violence,” and drawing on previous anthropological fieldwork and historical and documentary research, this article argues that Ebola disrupted four intersecting but precarious social accommodations that had hitherto enabled radically […]
Sociocultural, economic, and political dimensions play a defining part in epidemics and pandemics. Anthropological involvement is increasingly recognised as important, however, integration of social sciences during global health crises remains, for the most part, delayed, inconsistent, and distant from the centre of decision making and resource prioritisation. This problem is representative of much larger systemic […]
Key populations, specifically people who sell sex (PWSS), people who inject drugs (PWID) and lesbian, and gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people experience significant human rights violations which underpin the continued high HIV incidence in these populations.This rapid assessment of human rights violations in Eastern and Southern Africa focuses on three priority key populations […]
Failings during the early months of the Ebola outbreak caused the epidemic to become an unprecedented health crisis in West Africa. This cannot be repeated. […]
Although sometimes over used, the word ‘crisis’ accurately describes many challenges of today’s world, such as climage change, war and refugees, economic volatility, pandemics, and the continuing unmet needs of the poor, hungry, and neglected. While much has been achieved — in reducing the incidence of poverty and infant mortality, especially — our bright hopes for the […]