Protect Uganda-DRC Border Communities from Ebola

Dear Donor,

Schools are powerful platforms for strengthening community resilience. They bring together children, teachers, parents and surrounding communities, creating an opportunity to spread accurate health information and reinforce protective practices.

The continuing Ebola outbreak in the DRC, with 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths as of 13 September, demonstrates why school preparedness remains important.

Development Alert continues promoting health awareness within and around schools as part of our wider community preparedness approach.

We encourage teachers and school leaders to reinforce handwashing, hygiene and responsible health-seeking behavior. Children are taught to communicate concerns to trusted adults rather than attempting to manage serious illness themselves.

We also emphasize the importance of preventing stigma. A child whose family has been exposed to an infectious disease should not automatically be isolated socially or treated differently.

Teachers can also help identify misinformation and direct students toward reliable sources.

Parent engagement is equally important. Messages delivered at school become more effective when families reinforce them at home.

Development Alert also encourages schools to maintain functioning handwashing points and clean shared spaces wherever resources allow.

These measures support preparedness for Ebola while also strengthening protection against other infectious diseases.

WHO's current response includes community engagement, infection prevention and control, surveillance, laboratory testing and clinical care.

Development Alert seeks to connect these public-health priorities with the everyday realities of rural schools.

When children learn healthy practices, they become messengers of preparedness in their homes and communities.

Dear Donor,

An Ebola outbreak affects entire communities—not only people who become infected. Families can experience fear, stigma, disruption of livelihoods, interrupted education and difficulty accessing essential services.

The DRC has now reported 7,258 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,510 deaths, according to WHO data through 13 September. The outbreak is affecting 62 health zones across seven provinces.

Development Alert continues emphasizing that vulnerable families must remain visible within emergency preparedness.

Our community engagement activities pay particular attention to households that may face barriers to receiving health information, including remote rural families, elderly people, children, people living with disabilities and households with limited financial resources.

Health messages need to reach these communities in accessible language and through trusted local networks.

We also recognize the importance of dignity. Families affected by suspected or confirmed Ebola should not be blamed or stigmatized. Fear can isolate households at precisely the time when they need accurate information and appropriate assistance.

Community leaders and volunteers can help connect families with established health and humanitarian services while discouraging discrimination.

We also encourage families to follow appropriate health guidance during contact monitoring, referral or other public-health measures.

Development Alert's broader humanitarian experience shows that health emergencies often create secondary needs. A household affected by illness may struggle with food, transportation, childcare or income. Effective preparedness therefore requires compassion alongside disease-control measures.

WHO's current response includes community engagement, clinical care, surveillance, logistics and support for essential health services.

Our grassroots role is to help ensure that vulnerable households are not left behind.

Your support helps us place people at the center of preparedness—protecting not only communities from disease, but also their dignity and ability to recover.