Assessment Report for Post-Ebola Planning in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The world's second deadliest Ebola outbreak, which occurred in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was finally declared over on the 25th of June 2020 after almost two years of combined efforts of all response actors.  In total, 3,470 cases were reported, with 2,287 deaths and 1,171 survivors.

Previous outbreaks and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have shown the impact health epidemics can have on people’s lives. To understand how this Ebola outbreak had impacted people living in North-Kivu, IRC conducted an assessment in March 2020, and consulted 340 people living in ten communities the area. They were asked what changes they had perceived due to the Ebola Virus Disease and the emergency response to the outbreak.

Some of the findings confirm what was learned from previous outbreaks: people suffered from fear, stress and panic due to the Ebola disease and response; security remains a key concern for the population and the Ebola outbreak also had important socio-economic effects, impacting livelihoods and creating more conflicts.