This brief summarises key socio-cultural considerations concerning events related to death, burial, funerals (rites or ceremonies), and mourning in the context of the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, June 2018. Further participatory inquiry should be undertaken, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations and immediate recommendations for safe and dignified burial practices and related community engagement have been prioritised.
This brief is based on a rapid review of existing published and grey literature, experience of previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, Uganda and West Africa, informal discussions with colleagues from UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and GOARN Social Science Group, and input by expert advisers from the Institut Pasteur, Stellenbosch University, University of Sussex, University of Edinburgh, University of Wisconsin, Tufts University, Institut de Recherche pour le Développment, Réseau Anthropologie des Epidémies Emergentes, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Social Science Research Council, Paris School of Economics, Institute of Development Studies, Anthrologica and others. Responsibility for this brief lies with the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform.