The David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided $700,000 to support local response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
These grants moved quickly to experienced international Ebola outbreak response teams in the DRC and to grantee partners already embedded in affected communities.
The Ebola crisis in the DRC and Uganda has led to more than 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths affecting communities and organizations that are deeply valued partners advancing work critical to climate stability, biodiversity, human rights, and forest conservation.
The Packard Foundation has provided support in the region for thirteen years working across reproductive health, community rights, forest governance, and local leadership. The Congo Basin’s forests are home to thousands of forest-dependent communities. These forests are also a massive store of carbon which is released when the areas are cleared and degraded. The proximity, trust, and local knowledge of our partners is essential to a response that is timely, culturally grounded, and shaped by the needs of affected communities in this moment of crisis. Early and rapid response if critical to slow the spread of the disease.
“Ebola is threatening the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. Community health workers, forest rangers, and local leaders we've long partnered with have joined the response, risking their lives to protect their neighbors and community — a reminder that the health of Congo Basin forests and the communities who steward them are deeply interconnected."
Rapid Response Support
To support the Ebola response, the Packard Foundation is supporting the International Rescue Committee, Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises, Rights and Resources Initiative, Environmental Defenders, and Health In Harmony with flexible funding.
International Rescue Committee, $300,000
International Rescue Committee is one of the most experienced international Ebola responders operating in eastern DRC, with nearly three decades of presence in the country and extensive experience responding to previous Ebola outbreaks. Funding will support infection prevention and control in health facilities, risk communication and community engagement, sanitation, and community-based surveillance across affected health zones in Ituri and North Kivu.
Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises, $150,000
Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises (FFC) supports a network of grassroots women’s organizations throughout eastern DRC. Funding will enable FFC to rapidly regrant resources to trusted local organizations conducting multilingual community education, countering misinformation, behavior change communication, protection activities, and distribution of hygiene and protective supplies for frontline community workers and health facilities.
Rights and Resources Initiative, $100,000
Rights and Resources Initiative will provide rapid support to two Indigenous partner organizations operating in outbreak-affected landscapes: National Alliance for the Support and Promotion of Indigenous and Community Heritage Areas and Territories (ANAPAC) in Ituri Province and Programme Intégré pour le Développement du Peuple Pygmée au Kivu (PIDP) in North Kivu. Funding will support community surveillance, public awareness campaigns, installation of handwashing stations, distribution of personal protective equipment and community-led prevention activities that build on existing Indigenous governance structures.
Environmental Defenders, $50,000
Environmental Defenders works in community forest conservation, environmental justice, and community radio. Flexible funding will support expanded Ebola awareness and prevention messaging through trusted local radio networks and community leaders, protective equipment for staff, handwashing stations in high-risk communities, and limited humanitarian support for quarantined patients where appropriate.
Health In Harmony, $100,000
Health In Harmony will provide support to their local partner GRACE (Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center), that integrates community health, conservation, and livelihoods in eastern DRC. Funding will strengthen infection prevention and control measures for staff, surrounding communities and gorillas, while supporting community outreach and preparedness activities that help reduce transmission risks in communities neighboring critical conservation landscapes.
This response builds on the Packard Foundation’s history of supporting partners when urgent health threats such as COVID-19 and Zika put communities and ecosystems at risk. In 2014, the Packard Foundation provided $2 million to support the CDC Foundation’s response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak. Today’s grants continue that commitment in the DRC, where the health of people and the health of forests are inseparable.
