Protect Uganda-DRC Border Communities from Ebola

Dear Donor,

Uganda’s Ebola-free declaration represents more than the end of an outbreak. It provides an opportunity to transform the emergency capacity developed during the response into permanent community preparedness.

Uganda completed its 42-day monitoring period without detecting new transmission, confirming that the outbreak had ended. WHO and Africa CDC have emphasized that preparedness should continue because the regional Ebola emergency remains active in the DRC.

The latest DRC figures demonstrate the urgency. By 3 September, the country had recorded 6,342 confirmed cases and 3,072 deaths. The epidemic has now become the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded and the fastest-moving Ebola outbreak on record.

Development Alert is therefore preserving the community systems strengthened during Uganda’s response. These include community alert networks, health education relationships, local leadership partnerships, hygiene promotion activities and field mobility.

The emergency motorcycle remains an important investment in long-term preparedness. It can be used not only for Ebola response but also for future public-health emergencies, enabling teams to reach remote communities, deliver supplies, conduct awareness campaigns and follow up alerts.

Our approach recognizes that emergencies rarely provide communities with enough preparation time. Building capacity before the next crisis is therefore essential.

We are also maintaining relationships with schools, markets, transport workers, community health volunteers and local leaders. These networks provide an important foundation for rapid mobilization.

Uganda’s experience has shown that preparation saves lives. The DRC crisis shows the consequences of an outbreak moving faster than response systems can contain it.

Your support helps ensure that the investments made during Uganda’s Ebola response are not lost. Instead, they are becoming a permanent community asset—helping protect families, strengthen border resilience and prepare Uganda’s vulnerable communities for whatever health emergency comes next.