This background paper presents considerations on how the COVID-19 pandemic is accentuating existing vulnerabilities of populations forcibly displaced by war (refugees, asylum-seekers, internally-displaced and stateless persons), in settings across East Africa and the Middle East. In addition to the devastating health threat the pandemic poses, lockdown measures imposed by governments to reduce transmission are having […]
Engagement and communication
Understanding the perspectives and priorities of different groups vulnerable to and/or responding to epidemics and how to support dialogue-based response strategies.
57 documents
Key Considerations: Online Information, Mis- and Disinformation in the Context of COVID-19 (March 2020)
This brief sets out practical considerations relating to flows of information, misinformation and disinformation though online media, particularly social media networks, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It details various types of online media, key players and influencers on social media, and strategies for ensuring good information and disrupting mis- and disinformation. It is […]
Key Considerations: COVID-19 in Informal Urban Settlements (March 2020)
This brief sets out key considerations for protecting informal urban settlements from the spread and impacts of COVID-19. There is heightened concern about these settings because of the combination of population density and limited infrastructure. This briefing discusses what is known about vulnerabilities and how to support local action. It can be viewed in conjunction […]
Social Science and Behavioural Data Compilation (#5), Ebola Outbreak Eastern DRC, September-November 2019
This rapid compilation of data analyses provides a ‘stock-take’ of social science and behavioural data related to the on-going outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Based on data gathered and analysed by organisations working in the Ebola response and in the region more broadly, it explores convergences and divergences between […]
Considérations Clés : Préparation et Planification de Riposte contre le Virus Ébola à Goma, RDC
Cette note stratégique résume les considérations clés inhérentes au contexte social, politique et économique de Goma dans le contexte de la flambée épidémique d’Ébola survenue en RDC en mars 2019. Goma est la capitale administrative de la province du Nord-Kivu et un centre urbain majeur dans la région des Grands Lacs. La ville compte environ […]
Institutional Trust and Misinformation in the Response to the 2018–19 Ebola Outbreak in North Kivu, DR Congo: A Population-Based Survey
The current outbreak of Ebola in eastern DR Congo, beginning in 2018, emerged in a complex and violent political and security environment. Community-level prevention and outbreak control measures appear to be dependent on public trust in relevant authorities and information, but little scholarship has explored these issues. The authors aimed to investigate the role of […]
An Epidemic of Suspicion — Ebola and Violence in the DRC
Until the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Ebola outbreaks had been sporadic, small, and largely confined to isolated rural villages in Central Africa. But the 2014 epidemic broke all the rules and killed more than 15,000 people; since then, more outbreaks have been reaching larger urban centers, sometimes resulting in uncontrolled spread. The current […]
Community Responses to the Ebola Response: Beni, North Kivu
Since July 2013, a series of massacres have occurred in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, an area heavily affected by the current Ebola outbreak. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced (Congo Research Network, 2016, 2017). The kidnappings and mass killings transformed […]
Social Science Lessons Learned from Ebola Epidemics – Evidence Summary
In this ‘Social Science in Epidemics’ series, different aspects of past disease outbreaks are reviewed in order to identify social science ‘entry points’ for preparedness and response activities. This brief draws out some recommendations for Ebola response actors in North Kivu. It includes lessons learned primarily from (i) historical outbreaks in Congo; (ii) outbreaks in […]
Technologies of Trust in Epidemic Response: Openness, Reflexivity and Accountability During the 2014–2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
Trust is an essential component of successful cooperative endeavours. The global health response to the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak confronted historically tenuous regional relationships of trust. Challenging sociopolitical contexts and initially inappropriate communication strategies impeded trustworthy relationships between communities and responders during the epidemic. Social scientists affiliated with the Ebola 100-Institut Pasteur project interviewed […]
