There is no vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain. So Environmental Defenders built an Ebola radio campaign that turns Mahagi’s community radio stations and their journalists into a front line of the response. It builds on the Ebola prevention drive launched in June. Station logs and health workers now describe a territory where the message is getting through.
From boos to belief
In the first weeks after the Ebola outbreak was announced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May 2026, most people did not believe the disease was real. Community health workers trying to teach Ebola prevention met heavy skepticism and insults.
“When I went down to the shore of Lake Albert to sensitize communities, people booed me and shouted that there was no disease.” — Ufoyuru Mujangire, Hygiene Supervisor, Nyarambe Health Zone
Across Ituri Province, that mistrust proved deadly, as people wary of Ebola messages turned to violence. Efitia Jeanne, communications officer for Nyarambe health zone, pointed journalists to the burning of a treatment center in Rwampara, the injuring of nurses in Mongbwalu, and an attack on a safe burial team in Kindgot village.
“All of this occurred because of severe gaps in appropriate communication.” — Efitia Jeanne, Communications Officer, Nyarambe Health Zone
Without good information, she adds, everyone formed their own idea of the disease.
How the Ebola radio campaign began
Environmental Defenders (ED) chose to use the channel people already trusted. It produced short audio messages, known in radio as spots. In the first week of the outbreak, ED made prevention spots in Alur and French with the technical team of Nyarambe health zone. It then aired them in every program on Radio Terra, ED’s own community station.
When the spots first aired in Alur, schoolchildren in Djupio began singing them. Teachers at Awuju, Wambe, and Djupasonga primary schools reported pupils reciting the jingles on their way home. Within weeks, three schools had installed handwashing stations.
Two village chiefs asked for the same spots to be replayed in their communities, and Environmental Defenders delivered. Radio Kwana, which serves those villages, is the smallest of seven broadcasters recruited across Mahagi Territory. It has worked with ED on the campaign since June.
The outbreak, now in its fourth month, is the deadliest in Congo’s history. The first case of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus was confirmed in the mining town of Mongbwalu. By August 30, the Ministry of Public Health had reported 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths. Ituri, home to Mahagi Territory, is the hardest-hit province.
There is no licensed vaccine or approved treatment for this strain, and the case fatality rate is close to 50 percent. As a result, behavior change is the only viable defense. People must wash their hands, avoid contact with the sick and the dead, report cases early, and bury the dead safely. Each of these changes depends on whether communities believe the advice of leaders and health workers.
ED and its sister organizations, Radio Terra and Terra Agricultural Cooperative, have invested in several initiatives to build trust in the Ebola response. In mid-June, ED trained 26 journalists from Mahagi territory’s radio stations on Ebola, zoonotic disease, fact-checking, and conflict-sensitive reporting. The same month, ED signed two-month agreements with seven radio stations.
Seven stations, 360 Ebola radio campaign spots a month
Together, the seven stations cover all of Mahagi’s health zones. They are Radio Kwana, Radio Dynamique, Radio Télévision Djalasiga, Radio Communautaire Nyarambe, Radio RADID, Radio Pacifique, and Radio Baraka in Ngote, on the National Road 27 corridor to Bunia.
The terms were precise. Each station was paid for ten 80-second spots a day, five in Alur and five in French. Each also agreed to air two extra spots, for twelve airings a day, or 360 a month. The spots run in the morning, at midday, and in the evening, when families wake, return from the fields, and gather for the news. For transparency, every station kept a signed daily log and passed on common listener questions so the messages could be adjusted.
According to the station logs, the broadcasters have gone beyond their agreements. Radio Dynamique aired 432 spots between June 22 and July 28. Radio Télévision Djalasiga, whose signal reaches Djugu, Aru, Watsa, and Uganda’s West Nile, reported 448 in a month and called the extra airings its own contribution. RADID logged more than 370, and Baraka added a twice-weekly Ebola program on its own initiative. Together, four stations reported more than 1,600 airings in their first month.
The exception was Radio Kwana, which depends on solar batteries and a generator. When the sun failed, it had to cut back to four airings a day. Even so, with an estimated 45,000 listeners per spot in a hard-to-reach area, the effort was worth the cost.
Signs the Ebola radio campaign is working
The evidence that the Ebola radio campaign is working is qualitative but consistent. On July 28, Environmental Defenders brought managers and presenters from all seven stations together to compare notes with Radio Terra’s journalists.
Radio Dynamique’s Emmanuel Djakisa pointed to Mukambu Chiefdom, where handwashing stations now stand outside shops, pharmacies, and market stalls. Meanwhile, Radio Télévision Djalasiga estimated that about a third of households in its area had installed handwashing facilities and that handshakes had dropped sharply. At funerals, according to Radio RADID, religious and local leaders are repeating the messages.
Radio Baraka linked the broadcasts to suspected cases being referred to the Ebola treatment center in Logo. In a single month, Radio Kwana received sixty calls from community leaders urging it to keep the spots on air. Traders at the Fazila, Kudiweka, and Kpanyi markets also told the station they now wash their hands before eating. Health workers also reported more people coming forward with suspected cases.
Lessons from earlier Ebola epidemics
This pattern matches earlier epidemics. In Sierra Leone, a study of more than 10,000 people published in Emerging Infectious Diseases found that radio reached 94 percent of respondents during the 2014 outbreak. It also showed a strong link between accurate information and protective behavior. A highlight of that effort was the work of BBC Media Action, which shared its Ebola programming through 36 partner stations.
In Beni, during Congo’s 2018 to 2020 outbreak, Translators without Borders found that materials in French and Swahili excluded much of the population, and that unfamiliar terms deepened suspicion. That is why Mahagi’s health officials were so pleased to receive messages in Alur. In July, Reporters Without Borders and Congo Check also trained some 60 journalists in Bunia, Mongbwalu, and Nyakunde to counter false claims online.
What the Ebola radio campaign needs next
For the broadcasters, the work is not finished, and more investment is needed for spots in more local languages. All seven stations asked for spots in Lendu, Lingala, Swahili, and Kebu to reach miners and migrant farmers passing through. They also asked for weekly talk shows with health experts, so listeners can ask questions rather than only hear answers.
Power cuts remain the campaign’s constant enemy. Radio Baraka runs a fuel generator when its solar system fails, at a cost it cannot sustain alone. Environmental Defenders has committed to new spots made with health experts, regular evaluation meetings, and renewed agreements for as long as the threat lasts.
For journalists who earn little and often work without contracts, the collaboration has also brought recognition.
“Previously, community members were hesitant and openly doubted the existence of the virus. I am pleased to see real behavior change taking hold across our region.” — Emmanuel Djakisa, Radio Dynamique
As of the government’s August 30 report, Nyarambe and Angumu, the two health zones at the center of the campaign, had still not recorded a confirmed case.
