LocationsFrom fear to resilience: How communities in DR Congo are confronting Ebola
October 29, 2026
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the community-led response to the Ebola outbreak goes beyond medical interventions to address socio-economic impacts.
In the early morning light, as the sun rises over the red-dirt roads, Sifa sweeps the entrance of her house in the Kanyasi neighbourhood of Bunia, Ituri Province. Like thousands of mothers across the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, her days begin with a familiar choreography. The soft sweep of a straw broom clearing the dust from her doorway, the cold iron handle of a water bucket, the calculation of a few francs to buy cassava for her family.
In this corner of the country, life is already stretched thin by years of armed conflict, displacement and food insecurity. Now, as Ebola spreads through the province, that fragile routine faces a new threat. Rumours travel quickly, fear takes hold, and the simple acts that sustain a family—going to the market, selling a few goods, fetching water—become weighed with uncertainty. For Sifa, every day brings another calculation: how to protect her children, keep food on the table and hold her family together when even the most familiar rhythms of life begin to falter.
An impossible choice
For families who survive day to day, public health protocols clash directly with the basic rules of survival. When someone is identified as a contact of a patient, the protocol demands a strict 21-day quarantine. But staying indoors with no daily wage and without savings or food reserves is an impossible calculation.
Women bear the heaviest burden. In Bunia and across the surrounding provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, women run the local market stalls, care for the sick, fetch water and manage the home. When an outbreak hits, it is their small businesses and informal networks that grind to an immediate halt.
"If we stay inside, how do our children eat?" Sifa explained. "You cannot choose between sickness and hunger. If I cannot go out to the market today, there is no food on the table tonight."
With rumours spreading in markets and other gathering places, fear and mistrust are among the greatest challenges for combatting Ebola.
Because the emergency response felt disconnected from these harsh economic realities, an epidemic of rumours spread faster than the virus. In the markets and communal gathering places, frightening stories took root. People whispered that doctors and nurses were bringing the virus into neighbourhoods, or that hospitals were places where patients did not come back from. When health teams arrived in heavy, hooded protective gear, they did not look like doctors to local residents; they looked like faceless intruders. Suspicion turned into resistance, and response teams were met with closed doors and hostility.
‘Not just a medical issue’
When Marie-Lys arrived in Bunia as a UNDP crisis communication and community engagement expert, she recognized that medical interventions could not succeed in a vacuum of trust.
"Each day on the ground was a massive battle," Marie-Lys recalled. "The biggest obstacle was not just the virus. It was the fear of the disease, the misinformation and the mistrust."
UNDP is working with local communities to halt the spread the virus while strengthening resilience and addressing the financial fallout of the epidemic.
To bridge the divide, she teamed up with local front-line mobilizers like Heritier Pituwa. Wearing a simple blue UNDP vest, Heritier’s role is completely non-medical and deeply rooted in human connection.
"Ebola is not just a medical issue. It is a community issue," Heritier said. "We work with the community to listen to all their grievances, their fears and their concerns. We sit down with them to address the rumours and provide them with the accurate information that can save their lives."
Under the wide, green canopy of an acacia tree, they placed chairs in a circle. They invited the skeptical elders, the wary youth who stood at the corners of the road and the mothers who kept their children tucked behind their skirts. Heritier did not lecture. He simply asked them to speak. Instead of handing down guidance, he opens the floor and let people speak freely. Residents voice their anger about lost income, their confusion about the protective suits and their fear of isolation centres.
"We don't interrupt and we don't judge," Heritier explained. "If you don't take time to listen to someone's fear, they will never hear what you have to say about the virus."
UNDP teams up with local leaders to counter misinformation and spread accurate information about the virus.
The shift to community ownership
Once people feel heard, the defensive barriers begin to fall. Heritier walks through the science in plain language, explaining how the virus actually spreads, why early medical treatment increases chances to keep people alive, and why hygiene precautions and isolation protect entire neighbourhoods.
Sifa was sitting in one of those circles. "People were so afraid of going to the clinic," she remembered. "The rumours said the doctors were injecting people with Ebola. But sitting there, listening to them answer every question, it opened our eyes. Now, we want them to go even further, into every corner of our neighbourhoods, because there are still so many people who need to hear how to protect themselves and their children."
After attending an information session in her village, Sifa said she feels better prepared to protect herself and her community.
That change in perspective can also spread quickly. In the neighbouring village of Chari, a respected community leader named Benjamin attended a dialogue session and decided his community had to take the lead.
"Every participant understood that the disease is real and we can protect ourselves," Benjamin stated firmly. "As leaders, we have the responsibility to protect our people and to carry this message forward so we can eradicate this epidemic that is ravaging our town and our province."
As Marie-Lys retells, seeing local leaders take the microphone is the real turning point. "When we did our sensitization campaign in Chari, we were able to establish a real dialogue of trust," she said. "I saw people transform before my eyes, going from fear and uncertainty to a genuine community commitment. They wanted to share correct information and protect their families."
"Now I understand that we can protect ourselves and our families, and these people are here to help. We need more sessions to reach more people, because there are many Ebola cases in this area."Sifa, Kanyasi neighbourhood of Bunia, Ituri Province
Beyond the immediate crisis
Halting transmission is the immediate priority, but recovery must go beyond containing the virus. Without addressing the economic damage, families already living on the margins risk falling further into hardship long after the outbreak subsides. Across the six affected provinces, UNDP has worked with local communities to shape a US$30 million socioeconomic response plan that supports prevention and containment while strengthening resilience and addressing the financial fallout of the epidemic.
With emergency internal resources, UNDP is already working with 56 local leaders, 10 youth mobilizers, 10 women-led civil society organizations and two radio stations to deliver practical support where it is needed most. Female-headed households under observation receive hygiene supplies and emergency food rations, helping mothers meet their children's basic needs without having to leave quarantine. Women-led associations and market vendors whose livelihoods have been disrupted receive seed funding and small grants to help them recover their income and restart their activities. At the same time, community radio stations are being equipped with reliable equipment and broadcasting support to share accurate, locally relevant health information and strengthen communication networks beyond the immediate emergency.
Recovery also means standing alongside those who have survived the disease. UNDP has supported 82 Ebola survivors, recognizing that the end of infection does not necessarily mean the end of its consequences. Survivors face economic hardship, disrupted livelihoods and the challenge of rebuilding their lives within their communities.
A successful Ebola response means building resilience, ensuring that communities emerge from an epidemic economically stronger and better prepared to face future crises.
Through these interventions, UNDP has reached more than 460,000 people in Ituri. This work demonstrates what a community-centred response can achieve when health protection and socioeconomic support go hand in hand. But the needs extend far beyond the resources currently available. UNDP is seeking funding to scale up and implement the locally-led response across the province, bringing support to more households, expanding assistance to survivors and strengthening the local networks communities need to withstand future shocks. Investing now means protecting the gains made in containing the outbreak while preventing its economic consequences from deepening poverty and vulnerability.
Why resilience matters to prevent the next crisis
In eastern DR Congo, emergencies rarely happen in isolation. An area dealing with an epidemic is often simultaneously coping with displaced populations, armed clashes and food insecurity. Providing temporary emergency aid without strengthening the community's underlying capacity means that when the next crisis arrives, families will face the same desperate choices all over again.
Building resilience means ensuring that communities emerge from an epidemic economically stronger, better organized and more self-reliant than they were before. When local women's groups have access to savings and micro-grants, they build financial buffers against future shocks. When traditional chiefs, youth leaders and women's associations are trained in crisis communication, a permanent early-warning network remains on the ground.
The UNDP response in Ituri shows what is possible when communities receive support to confront both the health and economic consequences of an outbreak. The next step is to build on this progress and reach more people in need through the joint $30 million socioeconomic response plan for Ituri. UNDP calls on partners and donors to help mobilize the resources needed to turn this plan into action. For Sifa and thousands of families like hers, that support can mean more than surviving an outbreak. It can help protect household incomes, restore livelihoods and give communities the means to recover with dignity and face future shocks with greater security.
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