UNICEF: More Support Needed to Scale, Sustain Emergency Ebola Response in DRC
Highlights
- Ebola risks for children in DRC are compounded by ongoing conflict, displacement and weak health systems.
- UNICEF is assisting with infection prevention, engaging communities to stop transmission, caring for children while caregivers get treated and working with partners to maintain essential services.
- More donor support is urgently needed to close funding gaps.
UNICEF is reaching impacted children, families and communities with essential support, but more funding is needed to help scale the emergency response to stop the spread of disease. After a visit to Ituri province, which remains the epicenter of the epidemic, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa Gilles Fagninou shared a message of hope: "When communities, government and partners act together, lives are saved." Learn more, including how to help.
Updated Sept. 1, 2026
As Ebola cases continue to climb in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNICEF estimates that 7.2 million children and adolescents, or 54 percent of the population in 55 affected health zones, are at risk — not only to contracting Ebola virus disease but also to the mounting risks that result from disruptions to essential health and other social services.
The outbreak — caused by the rare Bundibugyo (boon-dee-BOO-jyoh) strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment — was confirmed in eastern DRC on May 15, 2026, and declared a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
It is the DRC's 17th outbreak — its fastest-growing and largest on record. Children represent nearly 1 in 4 confirmed cases, and account for almost 1 in 3 deaths. The fatality rate among children under 5 more than twice that of adults, with 60 percent of cases ending in death.
The communities where this outbreak is unfolding were already in crisis. Active conflict, mass displacement, and restricted access to health care and other essential services make it extremely hard to contain the spread of disease, and the risk of further regional spread remains high.
To date, UNICEF has delivered 455 metric tons of UNICEF supplies for the Ebola response, with DRC receiving 314 metric tons. Another 219 metric tons of UNICEF supplies are in the pipeline for all countries, with 110 metric tons bound for DRC.
To build trust, dispel misinformation and refer suspected cases for care, UNICEF and partners have trained and deployed around 13,000 frontline community actors and key influencers, reaching more than 2.4 million people with Ebola prevention guidance through over 505,000 household visits.
Ebola can be contained, provided that we act faster and more collectively.
"Ebola can be contained, provided that we act faster and more collectively," UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa Gilles Fagninou said after a mid-July visit to DRC's eastern Ituri province, the outbreak epicenter.
More funding is urgently needed to sustain and scale response measures.
Learn more about what it takes to stop Ebola
DRC's largest Ebola outbreak on record
As of Aug. 30, 2026, there were 6,100 confirmed cases reported in DRC, with 2,950 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. In Uganda, the number of confirmed cases has held steady at 20, with two confirmed deaths.
Continued spread in the context of conflict, insecurity, population displacement and limited access makes the response both more complex and more urgent, Fagninou said. “Yet, on the ground, despite these challenges, I also saw reasons for hope."
When communities, government and partners act together, lives are saved.
Fagninou continued: "In Bunia, I met a 3-month-old infant who had recovered from Ebola and a 9-month-old child who, despite the loss of both parents, is gradually smiling again thanks to the psychosocial support and protection services put in place with our partners. These children embody an essential reality: when communities, government and partners act together, lives are saved."
The race to save lives: UNICEF on the ground in DRC
UNICEF and partners have been on the ground in eastern DRC from the start, assisting government-led efforts to contain the spread of disease within affected communities and beyond.
Teams are also helping to sustain critical systems to protect children from the fallout of an outbreak that is only compounding existing vulnerabilities. Hospitals and clinics are often short on supplies, and surveillance and response efforts are complicated by the fact that people are constantly on the move, fleeing violence, following mining routes or seeking services.
UNICEF's ongoing priorities include:
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mobilizing communities and fighting misinformation
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strengthening infection prevention and control
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protecting children affected by the outbreak
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providing community-based surveillance
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supporting continuity of essential services
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fostering cross-border leadership and coordination
Fagninou said he was particularly encouraged by the nurseries set up near Ebola treatment centers, which provide a safe environment for young children when their parents are hospitalized. "This innovative approach deserves to be expanded," he said.
Related: The Race to Save Lives: UNICEF Ramps up Ebola Response
Widespread malnutrition among children is one factor compounding risks to children. In Ituri, more than half of children under age 5 are chronically malnourished. More than 1 in 5 are zero-dose children, meaning they have never received a single vaccine.
There are other risks driven by fear. Health workers report that people have stopped coming in for routine care because they are afraid, and when families stop seeking care, children miss vaccinations and illnesses go untreated. "The outbreak starts costing lives it never directly touched," explains Douglas Noble, UNICEF's Global Lead for Public Health Emergencies and Global Incident Manager for Ebola.
Learn more about how the Ebola outbreak threatens essential health services for children in DRC
Recovering from Ebola is possible, with early detection and intervention
Mireille Kahindo and her 16-month-old son Miki both recovered from the disease after receiving medical care and psychosocial support at the UNICEF-supported Rwampara Ebola Treatment Center.
"From the beginning, I was put on preventive treatment including rehydration, antibiotics, vitamins and zinc," Kahindo said. "I only experienced a few headaches and occasionally diarrhea, but nothing very severe, thank God."
Several other patients who came in during her stay at the center did not make it. "It was stressful, seeing bodies being taken out, others arriving in critical condition," she said.
UNICEF and partners are supporting service providers and service delivery at Rwampara and other treatment centers across Ituri, where the outbreak continues to affect many communities.
Learn more about Ebola and UNICEF outbreak response
UNICEF and partners are also providing individual case management, including family tracing and reunification, alternative care arrangements and social follow-up, and have reached more than 600 children so far. Three nurseries have opened to provide care for infants and young children while their sick parents and caregivers receive treatment.
Other outbreak response efforts include infection prevention and control measures along with public information campaigns to counter misinformation and encourage lifesaving practices like regular handwashing.
"Preparedness, infection prevention and control, and building community understanding and trust are our frontline tools," Noble said. “And that trust cannot be taken for granted." A recent UNICEF U-Report survey of 50,000 young people in the DRC found that nearly two-thirds were not aware of how Ebola spreads or how to protect themselves.
Supporting community engagement to stop Ebola
UNICEF and partners are also supporting efforts to ensure continued access to routine health care, including immunization, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection and other critical services that were under strain even before the current emergency.
Such conditions make Ebola especially risky, as early symptoms can be mistaken for other illnesses such as malaria, delaying detection and increasing risks of contagion. Infectious disease outbreaks also tend to increase the risk of violence, including sexual violence, against women and girls.
Related: UNICEF and Gavi call on manufacturers to speed access to Bundibugyo Ebolavirus vaccines
The importance of risk communication and community engagement
To help strengthen the government-led Ebola response in eastern DRC, UNICEF and partners have deployed strategic field missions to outbreak hot spots to reinforce diagnostic capacity, safe patient care, rapid case detection, risk communication and community engagement.
Supplies have been provided to seven Ebola treatment centers, 15 health facilities in Ituri, 154 examination centers and 12 schools. UNICEF-supported teams are conducting decontaminations and supporting safe and dignified burials.
"We can spare children the worst of it," Noble said. "Fast detection, strong pediatric care, monitoring of contacts and communities that are informed and engaged can help us bring this outbreak under control."
Read UNICEF's latest DRC Ebola humanitarian situation report
While Uganda declared its outbreak over on July 28, 2026, after 42 days without a new locally transmitted case, reintroduction risk remains. UNICEF has reached over 120,000 people with Ebola prevention messages and supported at least 19 children under quarantine.
Support urgently needed to close funding gaps
UNICEF requires $150.8 million to fund its emergency response plan, which includes both immediate lifesaving response activities and continuity of essential services in DRC, alongside preparedness and cross-border readiness measures in 11 neighboring at-risk countries. That response plan remains significantly underfunded.
"The challenge is not the lack of solutions, but the lack of funding to deploy them at the scale needed," Fagninou said. "As the virus progresses, resources are not keeping pace. Containing this epidemic is within our reach. This requires strengthened collective action, an accelerated response and sustained international solidarity alongside the government and affected communities.”
HOW TO HELP
There are many ways to make a difference
War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.
Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.
