Sphere COVID-19 Case Study #2 – From Ebola to COVID-19 – Lessons from DRC

A community-centred approach by humanitarian actors is critical to reducing the spread of infectious diseases. It builds trust between service providers and those affected. This enables interventions to be co-owned by the affected communities and therefore more contextually appropriate, relevant and effective. Numerous lessons from the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been successfully applied in the response to COVID-19. The need for trust and co-ownership is particularly critical in such a complex operating environment, characterised by displacement, inequity and widening social division.